Notepad files saving as 0 bytes

[wordwench]

I've checked multiple sources for this and can't seem to find an answer. I write text in Notepad, and save it to my Dropbox folder. I assumed this just saved it. However, I went to edit some work from the last month and dfound that everything saved to this folder is 0 bytes. Needless to say, I am panicking. 

My Dropbox is up to date, version 88.4.172 and continually running in the sys tray. I tested it just now with another file, and it goes through the save process, certainly acts like it has saved it when I close the application, but when I look at my Dropbox folder - it shows as 0 bytes and the document is empty. 

I am open to suggestions as to what this is occuring, and how to fix it, and if possible - can I recover these files or am I just screwed? 

TIA

[Walter]

Hi @wordwench - welcome to the Dropbox Community!

I'll be happy to look into this; I'll just need some additional information first. 

At first, can you let me know if those files are giving you an error when you try to open or edit them? In that case, a screenshot would be much appreciated. 

Do they preview normally on our website? 

On a relevant note, do these types show different size if you save them somewhere else on your computer other than in your Dropbox folder?

Let me know what you find and we'll take it from there. 

[wordwench]

Hi Walter;

Thanks so much. I appreciate whatever insight you can throw my way. 

To answer your questions:

1- No errors, either when saving or opening. 

2- No preview. They display a jpg that says "Empty Files Can't be Previewed". 
They will save as they should to my hard drive. 

I've been testing this further most of the afternoon - here's what I have found.

I have isolated it specifically to Notepad for Windows 10. When I create a file in standard Notepad, it saves fine to DB. When I create anything in NFW10, it saves as zero bytes.  These are two separate applications, in case that is not clear.

I would initially suspect then this is a NPFW10 issue, however as I noted earlier, if I save it to my hard drive, it saves fine. 

Truly stumped.

[Walter]

Thanks for the additional information and sharing the results from your testing @wordwench - much appreciated. 

Would it be OK if I reached out to your Dropbox associated email address to have a further look into this?

If need be, I'll escalate this to one of our experts for additional investigation.

Thanks so much for your cooperation. 

[wordwench]

Absolutely - I'll await your email. Thanks!

[Walter]

Thanks for your cooperation @wordwench!

I just sent you a brief email to your Dropbox associated address so we can work on this together. 

Whenever you find some spare time, please take a look at your inbox and we'll take it from there. 

[spiritofhorse]

Hello - this issue is happening with me too when I open a dropbox file in Word 365 and make changes to the document, I can save it one time just fine, but if I make even one change after that in the same document on the same day - and click Save As - to save it into dropbox with a new file name it saves it as an empty file with 0 Bytes. I can save elsewhere on my computer just fine.

Thanks

[Walter]

Hi @spiritofhorse; thanks for joining our discussion here.

Have you perhaps tried re-installing the Word app on your computer?

Alternatively, you could also try the Word Online integration to access and edit those files from our website directly.

While at it, I'd suggest having a look at the following resources as well:

• https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/third-party/microsoft-office-faq 
• https://help.dropbox.com/files-folders/share/edit-microsoft-office-documents

I hope this helps!