I keep having this problem. I'll be working on a document or powerpoint and try to save it in Dropbox, and it just...won't save. It doesn't seem to happen if it's a document that was already saved in Dropbox, and I am updating it. It only happens when I try to save a brand new document, or when I try to save a document under a new name (which basically makes it a brand new document). I'll do "save as," set it to save in a Dropbox folder, and title the document 5M.docx, and it sets to work doing that...and then it just reverts back to being an untitled document, and when I look in the folder, the document is not saved in there. This is obviously a huge problem--I've lost work to this several times. This never happens except when I'm trying to save in my Dropbox folder--it's definitely specific to Dropbox. It doesn't do this every time I try to save something to Dropbox, but it does it a decent percentage of the time. When it happens, I have to save the **bleep** document on my desktop instead, and then drag it into the Dropbox folder, which works fine. I haven't been able to find anyone else talking about this problem! Does anyone know what is going on and how I can get this to stop happening?

I've had the exact same problem for months, most often with Word documents. I can save those files anywhere else on my computer, but not to Dropbox folders. Originally the problem occurred when trying to save a new document or "save as." But now I can't even save a file that's already named. I have reinstalled Office and Dropbox. The problem still exists. Has anyone figured out the solution? My understanding is that something is interfering with the temp files that Microsoft creates in the process of renaming files. But it's unclear what.

Yes, it still happens when I quit the desktop app.I do not have this problem saving to other folders on my hard drive, including my Box folder. This only happens with files inside the Dropbox folder.

The problem happens even in the top level Dropbox folder. There actually isn't an error message. And what happens is hard to capture in a screen shot.Let's say I have a document named "Test" and I want to "save as" as "Test. v2".If I go through the motions of doing this in Word, the document will look like it saved for a split second. That is, at the top of the Word window, it will say " Test - Saved to this PC" then change for a split second to "Test. v2" then immediately revert back to "Test" -- but it will no longer say saved to this PC. If I try to close the window by clicking the X in the upper right corner, Word will ask me if I want to save. If I try to "Save as" again, I will often get stuck in an endless loop of this same behavior. Eventually it either saves or I have to save it to a somewhere outside of Dropbox. Once the above sequence happens, a temp file show ups in the Dropbox folder where I was trying to save. It's in the format ~WRD####.tmp It never goes away unless I manually delete it. If, after a failed "save as", I try to "save" the file using the old name, I will get an error: "Word cannot complete this save due to a file permission error." If I hit okay, I get the "Save as" dialogue -- then I can rename the file and it saves.

I have the same problem and Dropbox isn't helping to resolve it. I first noticed it yesterday.

Lusil and Daphne , I should add -- I used to be able to save Word files if I paused syncing. That no longer works. Could this somehow be related to the Dropbox cache files? I don't know how those work... but it strikes me as odd that this problem has only gotten worse over time... as though temp files are building up somewhere.

Files failing to save in Dropbox | The Dropbox Community

36 Replies

Replies have been turned off for this discussion

Lusil
Dropbox Staff
5 years ago
Just for troubleshooting purposes, could you temporarily close them and see if there's any change in behavior, bropdox?

No worries, lesliepratch, take your time, and let us know of any updates.

Thanks again!
bropdox
Helpful | Level 6
5 years ago
Lusil I exited Box and disabled Code42. No difference.

One thing I have noticed is that this problem is not consistent across different methods of saving. Before explaining this, let me say, I do have the option checked to "Show dropbox as a save location in Microsoft Office."

I can save in Word through one of three ways:
1. Use the "Save as" icon which I added to appear above the ribbon in word. This opens a file explorer window. It fails most of the time.
2. File --> Save As. Because Dropbox is set to be the default place to save (in my Word Options), it immediately suggests a Dropbox file path. This fails much of the time, but not quite as much as #1.
3. File --> Save As --> Browse. This, too, opens up the file explorer window. This seems to fail far less often than the others, but it will still eventually fail.

Again, there's no problem across these three methods when saving someplace outside of Dropbox.
Lusil
Dropbox Staff
5 years ago
Could you try fixing hardlinks or permissions by following these steps?

If that doesn't do the trick and if you haven't already, could you try clearing the cache as well?
bropdox
Helpful | Level 6
5 years ago
Lusil YES! Thank you. Fixing the hardlinks didn't seem to do anything, but fixing the permissions did! My problems started when I added Dropbox to a new work laptop. The user profile was setup quite differently than my previous laptop, so that must have been at the root of this.
Lusil
Dropbox Staff
5 years ago
Glad to have helped, bropdox!

If anything else comes up, just give us another shout.

In the meantime, I hope you have a lovely week ahead.
bropdox
Helpful | Level 6
5 years ago
Lusil actually, it stopped working again. I tried clearing the cache. That did nothing. There's been a Windows update between when it was working and now, so I will try fixing the permissions again. Can I do that without fixing the hardlinks first, or should I do both?

Something I have noticed, the *only* way I can save for sure within Word is to File --> Save as --> Dropbox --> Browse in Dropbox.
It's a lot of clicking.

If I try any other method of saving that doesn't involve "browse in Dropbox" there's a risk of failure.
lesliepratch
Explorer | Level 4
5 years ago
The issue has gone away, not sure why. Thank you for your help.
Lusil
Dropbox Staff
5 years ago
Glad to hear that you're not having trouble with this anymore, lesliepratch!

Also, bropdox, sorry to hear that the issue's returned.

You can try fixing permissions first and, if that doesn't do the trick, try fixing hardlinks.

If they don't help improve the behavior, could you clarify if you have any pending OS updates?
bropdox
Helpful | Level 6
5 years ago
Lusil I had a large Windows update a couple of days ago, but just checked and installed a minor one. There are no pending updates and I've restarted my computer.

I've also fixed the permissions and hardlinks again, and for good measure, cleared the cache again.

The problem still persists, but not as consistently. Do you have any other suggestions? Also, why does "Browse in Dropbox" consistently work, but other ways (e.g., clicking the shortcut icons in the ribbon) or any other route through file --> save as not work consistently?
Walter
Dropbox Community Moderator
5 years ago
Sorry to hear that bropdox.

Could you try re-installing the app on your computer to see if that improves matters at all?

Forum Discussion

Files failing to save in Dropbox

36 Replies

About Create, upload, and share

Related Content

/files/download API fails

"Installation failed. The Dropbox installation failed to start" error on Windows 11

Failed to upload File

Getting "Installation failed. The Dropbox installer failed to start." error on my desktop app.

Opening a Dropbox Paper file fails with 500 error

Recent Discussions

I created 2.4M files over the limit on the desktop app and now it's stuck syncing.

I'm using the website to upload content. How can I know if it was uploaded successfully?

I keep getting a warning that my content may contain phishing.

How can I create local copies of my files on the Mac Dropbox app?

Questions about Dropbox vs OneDrive