Why do I need to give Dropbox permission to sync .lnk files on Windows?

Hey M1000 ..​ - thanks for posting on our Community!

Based on your screenshot and the .lnk files shown there, it seems that you've added a shortcut to a file rather than the original file into your Dropbox folder. Dropbox will sync the shortcut as a shortcut, rather than the file that the shortcut points to. 

To fix this issue you'll need to move the actual file or folder, rather than the shortcut, into the Dropbox folder. You can identify a shortcut (or a .lnk file) by looking for a small arrow overlaid on the file icon. 

If the Dropbox desktop app is running the Dropbox syncing icon will cover the shortcut icon, so you may need to quit Dropbox temporarily if you want to check on the files you currently have stored in your Dropbox folder. 

I hope this helps and please let us know if you have any other questions. 

Thank you for your help.

I can't wrap my head around, where you wrote . . .

 . . . it seems that you've added a shortcut to a file rather than the original file into your Dropbox folder.

Could you explain it in another way? Pretend I'm new to this country  ;-)

Here are the other shortcuts . . .

I dont know if below will help at all (maybe in your explaing it to me.

I used the search engine, Everything, and I searched the shortcuts from my 1st attachment, in my original post.

And then, here are the programs. I entered the name of the program (app). For example, in the search engine, I wrote 'ApowerRec' and below are some results . . .

I hope you understand  ;-)

Hey M1000 ..​, I hope it's okay for me to jump in here as well.

So, from what I can tell from your screenshots, it looks like you have lots of shortcuts of files and apps in your Dropbox folder.

These are basically just pointers in Windows that point to the original files. The Dropbox app can't follow these links, so you'll need to place the original files into your Dropbox folder if you want to sync them.

Also, keep in mind that the app folders or app shortcuts will not work as you'd expect, meaning, syncing these shortcuts won't allow you to install those apps on other devices.

I hope this clarifies things.

In addition, I chatted with someone from Dropbox yesterday afternoon. They said to fix permissions like this . . .

1. Make sure the Dropbox desktop application is running.
2. Click on the Dropbox icon in the system tray and then click your profile picture or initials.
3. Select Preferences.
4. Click on the Account tab, and then click in the window under the tab (just anywhere will do).
5. Press the alt+H keys.
6. Click Fix Hardlinks.
7. You may be prompted for your username and password. These are your computer login credentials, not your Dropbox account credentials.
8. Please wait about ten minutes to see if Dropbox resumes syncing.

 
If the above steps don’t resolve the issue, please repeat steps 1 through 5, but at step 6, this time click Fix Permissions. Operating system permissions can prevent files from being viewed or edited by unauthorized logins. Permissions can be set any number of ways and can be restored manually through a fairly simple process.

Please note that if you click Fix Permissions, syncing will start back over. If you need to use this step, please allow for a few hours to pass and let me know if syncing becomes stuck again.

I clicked on 'fix hardlinks'

So are we good to assume that you no longer have an issue M1000 .. ?

Hi M1000 ..​  and welcome back to the Dropbox Community! I’m really glad to hear things are working as expected now and thank you for coming back to share that update. Your follow-up is super helpful for others who might have questions about syncing .lnk files on Windows ✨.

I’m Theresa 👩‍💻, one of the Community Managers here at Dropbox. Since you’re diving into file types and permissions, I’d love to know... do you have a favourite Dropbox feature that helps you stay in control of how your files sync or behave?

Looking forward to hearing more,

T 😺 (Dropbox Community Manager)