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sarahlmackay's avatar
sarahlmackay
New member | Level 2
7 years ago
Solved

Missing recent updates to a Word file

I have a word document, saved in dropbox, that I made changes to on Friday 31st August (a lot of changes!) and this version of the file has not saved. I did change the name of the file too on that day, which is an amend I can see in the version history. I can't see any record in the version history of any edits being made on Friday 31st.

Can someone help me retrieve the most recent version of the file?

restore
  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    7 years ago
    If there’s no edits to the file, then it means that the file wasn’t ‘saved’ at all during.
     
    Editing a file is fine, but it doesn’t automatically update to Dropbox unless you save the file itself using Word. Once the file is updated, then the sync begins.
     
    Another possibility is that the file was copied to a place outside the Dropbox folder, edited normally (while obviously not syncing), and then moved or copied back into the Dropbox folder. 
     
    This would overwrite the older file existing there, resulting is a single edit. Afterwards you then renamed the file.
     

8 Replies

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    7 years ago
    Hi Sarah, were you amending the file using Office Online, or by opening the Word program on your machine itself?
     
    If the latter, it sounds like the Dropbox desktop application wasn’t running when making the changes. What machine were you editing the file on?
     
    Any further info you can provide would be great!
  • sarahlmackay's avatar
    sarahlmackay
    New member | Level 2
    7 years ago

    Hi Jay,

    I'm using a MacBook Pro - and I was editing the document in Word on my computer, so on the machine itself.

    It sounds like your hypothesis is write. Is there anything I can do?

    Thanks for your help!

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    7 years ago
    Could you check and see if the desktop app is running in the menu bar?
     
    Do the files in the Dropbox folder have green ticks next to them?
  • sarahlmackay's avatar
    sarahlmackay
    New member | Level 2
    7 years ago

    Hi Jay,

    Yes the desktop app is runing in the top menu bar, and yes there are green ticks next to all the documents.

    Best wishes,
    Sarah.

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    7 years ago
    When you were making the changes, was the computer connected to internet at that time, either via WiFi or mobile hotspot?
     
    Even if the desktop app is running, but no active internet connection, it won’t save every individual edit. The next time the computer is connected to the internet, there will be one edit only, showing all the changes as one large edit.
     
    Regarding the name change, did you do this before or after the edits? Did you change the name of the file online somehow, prior to the computer connecting to the web?
  • sarahlmackay's avatar
    sarahlmackay
    New member | Level 2
    7 years ago

    Hi Jay,

    Yup my computer would have been connected to our work Wifi the whole time.

    So there are no changes showing in the doc since the ones I made on the 30th. Not even as one large edit.

    I made a load of edits, then changed the file name, in 'finder' on the mac - in the dropcox folder (I think - I can't 100% remember I'm afraid). 

    Is that any help?

     

     

  • Elixir's avatar
    Elixir
    Star | Level 19
    7 years ago

    Hello Sarah, When you hover the mouse pointer over the Dropbox icon on the menubar, does it show Up to date? 

    And just to be sure that you are looking at the same file in your Mac and on Dropbox web, can you please lauch the preview on web by right clicking over the file in Finder, and select View on Dropbox.com?

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    7 years ago
    If there’s no edits to the file, then it means that the file wasn’t ‘saved’ at all during.
     
    Editing a file is fine, but it doesn’t automatically update to Dropbox unless you save the file itself using Word. Once the file is updated, then the sync begins.
     
    Another possibility is that the file was copied to a place outside the Dropbox folder, edited normally (while obviously not syncing), and then moved or copied back into the Dropbox folder. 
     
    This would overwrite the older file existing there, resulting is a single edit. Afterwards you then renamed the file.
     

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