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

Suddenly getting sync errors related to file names with special characters

I'm on Windows 10 and have been using dropbox for 5+ years. In the last 2 days, suddenly I have been getting sync errors for around 2500+ files and the error is related to file naming issues. The odd...
sync
  • Lusil's avatar
    Lusil
    7 years ago
    Hey JuliaG, sorry to hear that. 
     
    Could you also let me know if you’re seeing any errors and what the Dropbox icon next to your desktop’s clock reads when you hover over it? A screenshot (omitting personal info) would be much appreciated so as to have a better visual understanding of the behavior. 
     
    Thanks in advance!
Lusil's avatar
Lusil
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
7 years ago
Hi there mottensmeyer , 
 
mottensmeyer wrote:

Is there any new information on this issue?

I’m afraid not. The general idea is still that if sync isn't working on your OS and your file name includes one of the characters included in this article, the easiest solution is to rename the original file so that it doesn’t include them. 
 
Let me know if you have any other questions!
99gov's avatar
99gov
New member | Level 2
7 years ago

I have the same problem, and can't change the name on 1405 files. Surely there must be a better fix than this? Why has this issue only just now emerged? 

 

  • Lusil's avatar
    Lusil
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    7 years ago
    Hey there 99gov, 
     
    Could you please provide some information as to why you’re unable to rename files? Are you getting any errors? Are you trying to rename them from the website, the desktop app or the mobile app? 
     
    Any screenshots (without personal info) illustrating this would also be very helpful. 
     
    Thanks in advance!
  • mitchrosefelt's avatar
    mitchrosefelt
    Helpful | Level 5
    4 years ago

    This has been periodically occurring in our DBox.

    Files that have been synced for years abruply show with "unsyncable" error. I know that nobody has changed the files - something else is doing that.

    It has probably occurred 4 times this year, with all of the affected files in the same folder.

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

    Hey mitchrosefelt, sorry to hear about this.

     

    Can you let us know some additional information in order to have a better look into this issue for you?

     

    For example, what is the exact OS of the devices that have this issue and, also, what is the version of the desktop app installed there?

     

    Could you send us a screenshot of the exact error you're noticing as well?

     

    Thanks so much!

  • mitchrosefelt's avatar
    mitchrosefelt
    Helpful | Level 5
    4 years ago

    I am able to rename the files. The problem is that they are being mysteriously renamed with illegal characters that causes DBox to throw an error. This is 4 or 5 files this year - all reside a the same folder in my DBox. I'm not running any processes which would rename the files and I've not noticed it anywhere else in my file system. Next time I'll take a screen grab.

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