Cut the Clutter: Test Ignore Files Feature - sign up to become a beta tester here.

Forum Discussion

Drykon's avatar
Drykon
New member | Level 1
8 months ago
Solved

"That didn't work for some reason" error; I can't open my shared link.

I have a shared link to a gaming document that I've been using for a while. However, every time I've tried to use the link over the pass couple of days, I get the message shown below.

I've refreshed the page, used different browsers, cleared my cache, but nothing seems to work. I've had others test the link and they've been able to use it just fine, so I don't believe the document has been delete. Does anyone know how I might be able to access it again?

  • No. If the permissions changed on the file then only the owner can fix it.

    Before I removed the link from your post I tested it myself, and while I didn't get the "This didn't work ..." error that you're getting, it did prompt me to sign in to an account to verify my access.

    Only the owner will be able to resolve this for you. I would suggest leaving a reply on the forum where you found the file and maybe the owner will see it.

10 Replies

  • Nancy's avatar
    Nancy
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    8 months ago

    Hey Drykon! Welcome to our forum. 

    The shared link is throwing the same error on an incognito window, as well, right? Do you have any other links that have the same issue, or is it the only one?

    Other than that, I’d suggest checking with the owner of the link (in case that’s possible), just to make sure they haven’t made any changes on their end that could’ve affected it. 

    Let me know what you find and we’ll go from there.

  • Drykon's avatar
    Drykon
    New member | Level 1
    8 months ago

    Hi Nancy. Yes, the error message occurs in an incognito window and on other links. Unforutately, I'm not able to get in contact with the owner of the link as I do not have their contact information.

    Mark as Solution

    Like

  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    8 months ago

    Hey Drykon, Is it possible that they are sending you a shared folder or an editing link, instead of a link with "view only" permissions?

    I'm asking, because we had a similar case in this thread, and that seemed to be the cause.

  • Drykon's avatar
    Drykon
    New member | Level 1
    8 months ago

    It is a "View Only" link, but that was intentional. I'm not trying to edit the document, only read it.

  • Hannah's avatar
    Hannah
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    8 months ago

    Hey Drykon, what's the file type? If you save it to your account, can you preview it?

  • Drykon's avatar
    Drykon
    New member | Level 1
    8 months ago

    [link removed]

    I'd been able to view it without an account via that link up until about a week ago. When I got the error message, I made an account, but still have unable to view the doc. Additionally, sicne I can't view it, I'm not given the option to save it to my account.

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    8 months ago
    Drykon wrote:

    I'd been able to view it without an account via that link up until about a week ago.

    The link now appears to require a Dropbox account that has access to the link. You'll need to contact the owner.

  • Drykon's avatar
    Drykon
    New member | Level 1
    8 months ago

    As stated previously, I don't have the owner's contact information. The link was shared via a gaming forum and, to my knowledge, only recently stopped working. Is there anything you can do to help with this?

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    8 months ago

    No. If the permissions changed on the file then only the owner can fix it.

    Before I removed the link from your post I tested it myself, and while I didn't get the "This didn't work ..." error that you're getting, it did prompt me to sign in to an account to verify my access.

    Only the owner will be able to resolve this for you. I would suggest leaving a reply on the forum where you found the file and maybe the owner will see it.

About Create, upload, and share

Find help to solve issues with creating, uploading, and sharing files and folders in Dropbox. Get support and advice from the Dropbox Community.

Need More Support

The Dropbox Community team is active from Monday to Friday. We try to respond to you as soon as we can, usually within 2 hours.

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!