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Forum Discussion
Cannot move files when trying to merge old Dropbox folder with new Dropbox folder.
After running the Windows update from 12/13/22 I had to reinstall Dropbox. When I tried to use my old Dropbox folder I could not because it said there was already one there. So I had to place the n...
I did not change the name of the other folder because I thought the links to being able to access the files that were online only might be lost if I renamed folder. I am attaching a screenshot that includes the folders that I would like to merge and their associated properties. The file explorer on the right is the old that has files in it that I need to be able to access. The files explorer on the left is the new DB folder. Tried to get status in pic, but if not, it was "up to date".
Thank you again for your help.
Hannah
Dropbox Community Moderator
Dropbox Community ModeratorHey USMCSGT323, sorry to jump in here.
Have you tried double-clicking on the files in your old Dropbox folder that are online-only, to see if they can get downloaded/opened?
Thanks Hannah,
Yes it says they are online only and cannot be opened until they moved into the Dropbox folder.
Thank you for checking in with me!
- Walter
If the files were online only in the old folder, it would mean that they were synced with your account at some point so the files must be present in the new folder as well somewhere. Can you see if you can find the files on the website?
Is it possible that you moved them to another location or that the folders are being selectively un-synced from your computer?
Let us know what you find and we'll take it from there USMCSGT323
Thanks Walter for reaching out!
Unfortunately, there are so many files, around 500k, in my account and that it would take probably years to go in a compare one folder to another.
My plan was to run a duplicate file finder and eliminate the excess files. But at the moment there are so many files that don't open because they are tagged as "online only" files that can't be opened. Which puts me in a position of having too great a risk that I would unintentionally delete a functioning file and keep the one I cannot open.
If I could get the "locked" "online only" files unlocked, then I would not be so concerned about deleting the wrong one because both files would be functional. At that point I would not accidentally delete one that worked and keep one that doesn't.
This is the message I get when I try to open one of the files. And I can't move it because it won't let me until it is "unlocked" by placing it in the folder. If I could get the file in the dropbox folder I think I could then convert it to "on computer" and it would open.
Thank you so much for your help!
- Jay
Hi USMCSGT323, if you're uploading files to the site directly, then the Dropbox desktop application wouldn't see any uploading occurring, since these are different systems.
Regarding the files, from your earlier image, the size and size of disk vary greatly, meaning a large number of the files are online-only (showing zero bytes), so there is literally no data on those files locally.
This would be why they aren't uploading, since there is no data of that file. You can confirm this by right clicking the Adamson...pdf file, then Properties, and seeing the size on disk for that file.
The file itself, however, should still exist on the site. Have you already tried searching for that file online?
Yes and on that example I have a valid file. But there are others where the only file "remnant" I have is the file in the old folder that tells me that I need to move it to my dropbox folder to be able to open it. It seems like if I could somehow get the old folders inside of the umbrella of the new Dropbox folder that maybe those releases of the "locked" files might be unlocked. But I have no idea which is why I have about a month on this problem!
Thank you for your help.
