Renaming Folders - Does this break the link in the content that's in the folder?

[arielomfgco]

We have a ton of shared folders on the main frame of our team dropbox - We also have a lot of PDFS stored in said folders that have been shared. 

If we change the names of the shared folders - will this break the links and WIll this change the names for everyone on the team?

[Jay]

Hi there, when you refer to links, do you mean shared links, which are URLs that can be accessed from a browser even when not logged into Dropbox, or are you referring to the files in the folders themselves?

Just so you’re aware, renaming a shared folder will do nothing for anyone else, since only you can see the change. If you want the other users to see the change, you’ll need to follow the steps in that article.

Let me know more so I can assist further!

[arielomfgco]

Jay - 

Sometimes we share files directly and sometimes we share folders.

Anything we share lives in a client folder that is created in our team dropbox. 

If we wanted to reorganize our team dropbox client folders (say renaming them all, or sorting them differently) would we need to first unshare everything and re-organize and then reshare it all? Would we need our team admin to do that?

If we did that ^ would that break the links that our clients have in the folders even though it's those subfolders or subfiles that are shared?  

[Jay]

As you haven’t clarified if you’re creating shared links, or shared folders, I can’t give an answer yet.

Both of them are radically different.

The shared link is available to access, even if they don’t have a Dropbox account, and is a read-only link, they can’t edit files in that link.

The shared folder requires that the invitee has a Dropbox account of their own, and can be shared with edit access.

Assuming the latter, if you want the clients to see the new names of the folders, you’ll need to unshare, rename and reshare the folders to them.

If you’re referring to shared links, then they might break depending on the sharing permissions of the folders they are being moved to.

[arielomfgco]

Got it. These are shared links to folders, that have lots of files and subfolders in them. 

The clients are able to download assets from there without having a Dropbox account. 

If we change the names of the parent folders of the folders that we've shared through link sharing  (by unsharing the parent folder, renaming the parent folder, and resharing with our team) ... will the shared links to the folders that live within the parent folder break?

-Ariel 

[Jay]

Thanks for the info, if they’re shared links, renaming or moving the folders to another folder in Dropbox won’t break the links.

There are however three instances where the link is broken:

• Deleting the link itself by doing so from the folder settings
• Deleting the folder or files associated with the link
• Moving the folder into another shared folder which has special permissions applied to it.

Let me know if this helps!

[arielomfgco]

Got it! 

Yes that definitely helps. 

I changed the name of one folder and "reshared" it. Will that update the name for the folks who have been shared on it. 

[Jay]

If by resharing you mean giving the people the shared link again, then yes, they’ll see the new name of the folder at the top of the link.

Just like if you update files in the link, and they refresh the link on their end, they’ll see the new updates to it there.

[billpaxtonn]

Hi jay,

I had a quick question regarding this issue – the dropbox promoted policy on your help docs etc states that anyone can change the name of a shared folder without affecting anyone else's version of that folder.

But this hasn't been my experience... as the folder owner, whenever I have changed the name of the folder, the other people that I share that folder with have to download the entirety of the contents again. This is a little aggravating because the size of the folder is much larger than any personal HD, which causes dropbox to then tell the computer that there is no space left. We all use selective sync, but this protective feature seems to be overridden when changing the top-level folder name. 

Any clarification would be greatly appreciated! Thanks 🙂

[Denni_K]

Whenever you change the name of a shared folder, all contributors should see the new name. However, the link might break. I'd advise sharing the new link, just ot be sure.