I can see my folder online but not in File Explorer. App doesn't sync?

I’ve run into similar issues before where certain folders or files wouldn’t show up in the desktop app, even though they were visible online. One thing I found was that special characters like colons or periods at the end of file names can mess things up. Removing those characters fixed it for me every time.

Also, I tried a tool called CloudMounter once, which helped me mount cloud storage as a local drive, but I’ve mainly stuck with fixing the syncing settings and making sure no invalid characters were involved. If the basic solutions don’t work, it might be worth double-checking for any hidden issues in the file names.

Thanks for reaching out to us, davebenecounts.

The screenshots you sent us are super helpful and I can immediately see the issue.

The names of the folders in question have unsupported characters in them, which are the "." (period) and the "*" (asterisk).

If you remove the periods and the asterisks from the folder names, they should sync to your Dropbox folder as normal.

Check and let me know how it goes!

I badly need help please!, I have been having this problem that I can't view folders on my Dropbox Desktop Application those Folders that are available and can be viewed on my Desktop Web Application, we have been uninstalling and installing for how many time already but its just the same result. 

Please see screenshot comparison of the folders of my Dropbox Web Application and my Dropbox Desktop Application 

Do they appear at www.dropbox.com/home for both of you? 

Have you used characters in the file name that Windows cannot use such as !>@)^ etc. 

For a work project, a team member shared a folder with me. When I upload files - in the same manner each time - some files are visible to the owner of the file and some are not. We have already tried refreshing DropBox. Any ideas why? Other teammates are not having issues with uploading their materials. I have tried searching online and in the forum but can't find the answer I am looking for and how to fix the issue! They are a PC user and I am on a Mac in case that adds required context. Thanks!

That's it and I should have thought of it. It was a colon (:) that she used in those 6 names. It would be nice if the Desktop app had a feature where it could replace invalid Windows characters with something else when syncing. For example, when I downloaded one of the files directly from Dropbox online, the download (maybe the browser) changed the : to an underscore (_). Thanks for the help!

Do any of the files have characters which Windows cannot sync such as ! ? $ @% etc.

I have a shared folder with read/write access for both of us. It has worked great for years to share files. Two days ago she copied 8 files to the folder for me and on my end, only 2 were downloaded with the Dropbox Windows desktop app. Online I can still see the remaining 6 files. 

I have followed all the advice in https://help.dropbox.com/sync/files-not-syncing including uninstalling/installing the app. Nothing has worked and I can still see the remaining 6 files online.

Looking at the history of what she did to copy the files, it shows she:

- added 6 HEIC files to the folder

- renamed the first part of each of those 6 HEIC files

- moved 1 JPG file to the folder

- moved 1 DOCX file to the folder

- renamed the first part of the JPG file

The only 2 files that were able to be downloaded to me via the desktop app were the DOCX and the very first HEIC file she added & renamed.

Is there anything else to try on my end?

This was my issue!! Thank you!!

Hey Anto_58, thanks for reaching out to us today.

Can you please check the sync status and version of the Dropbox, by hovering over the Dropbox icon in your system tray/menu bar?