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Dance City's avatar
Dance City
New member | Level 2
3 years ago

File Request - The following characters are not allowed: angle brackets \ / : ? * " |

Hello,

 

I'm creating a file request, like I have many time before but suddenly it is coming up with this warning:

'The following characters are not allowed: angle brackets \ / : ? * " |'

 

This makes no sense as I am not using any of these characters in my subject line. I have even just tried 1 character 'J' and it still came up with this warning and therefore unable to create the file request.

 

Any help here would be most useful.

Thank you

 

Adam

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  • justnickrich's avatar
    justnickrich
    New member | Level 2
    3 years ago

    Same exact issue on Chrome and Safari using an M1 Mac Studio.  Dropbox any feedback or fix coming soon as this is a vital feature used frequently???

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    3 years ago

    Hey lawman99 & justnickrich - thanks for flagging this with us.

     

    Could you please clear your browser's cache and also try an incognito window with no extensions or plugins running and let us know if you still get the same error? 

     

  • lawman99's avatar
    lawman99
    Explorer | Level 4
    3 years ago

    Hi Walter  So it is now working, in that I am able to create file requests. Just an Incognito window wasn't enough, the cache also had to be cleared for it to work in Incognito mode. It still doesn't work in a normal browser window, so for a workaround it's OK but the issue should be properly fixed.

    Thanks for advising. 

  • lawman99's avatar
    lawman99
    Explorer | Level 4
    3 years ago

    Walter justnickrich We may have got to the bottom of the issue. If any of the containing folders in the hierarchy have impermissible characters in them, the file request will likely fail. It's not easy to spot this as those folders behave fine in normal Dropbox usage; it only starts to be an issue when you create File Requests. Once we went up the hierarchy and checked all the folders above, we didn't need to clear cache or use Incognito.

    Hope this helps others fix things. 

  • Nancy's avatar
    Nancy
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    3 years ago

    Hey lawman99. 

     

    To clarify; did you also check your usual web browser and make sure all updates are installed? 

     

    Besides that, I'd like you to restore your browser to its default settings and disable any browser plugin. The issue you're experiencing may be the result of a security setting or a plugin that you have installed on your browser.

     

    Does any of the above seem to make a difference? 

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