Rename the Folder Then the PPTX File GONE

[Steven W]

Dear Dropbox Team,

    I rename my folder last Friday while continually adding content to my PPTX file. It worked fine that day. But when I checked the file again this morning, the file has 0 bytes, and opening the file leads to an empty file with "Click to add first slide." That is one whole year of hard work gone with valuable research data! 

    Luckily I managed to restore the file through the version history. However, I feel totally unsafe. I only use letters, numbers, space, and "_" for my file and folder names; no special character was used but I still lost files. It worked fine on Friday but lost the file both online and local Dropbox drive today. How could I prevent this from happening? Thank you. 

Dropbox Desktop: v140.4.1951; Computer MacOS 11.5.1

    P.S when I was trying to reach the support for suggestions, there is nothing other than a robot. The ultimate answer I got was a link to a post complaining about a similar problem. No solution was there and I could not find helpful solved cases. 

[Jay]

Hi @Steven W, thanks for bringing this to our attention.
 
In general, renaming a folder wouldn't result in the behavior you're experiencing. Did you rename the folder from the Dropbox site or your machine?
 
Were you editing the file on your computer, or from the site? Could you confirm if the Dropbox desktop application was syncing normally?
 
Any other info or screenshots would be helpful!
 

[Steven W]

1. I changed my folder names on the computer. 

2. I was editing my PPTX on my computer.

3. The sync should be working well at the time. I was editing multiple files that day and all other files were saved correctly. 

[Jay]

Just to clarify, did you rename the folder while the pptx file was open? Does it only occur with pptx files?

Could you give me exact step-by-step instructions on how this happened, and if it is happening now?

If you pause syncing in the Dropbox desktop application, or quit the app entirely, does the behavior continue?

[Steven W]

Hi,

    I included a screenshot of my version history of that pptx file. 

1. The pptx file was open locally in my computer. Saved after few edits

2. I changed the folder name while keeping the pptx open. 

3. I could still save changes to pptx after renaming the folder. 

4. I quit Powerpoint at end of the day normally.

   My Dropbox Desktop and the sync are always on. 

   Right now the file is working fine, and I definitely do not want to try to induce the problem on my end, so I don't know what will happen if I turn off sync. 

[Jay · Accepted solution]

I wouldn't recommend changing the folder name while any file within that folder is open, since this would affect the original file and could cause corruption, such as what you're experiencing. 

In future, try renaming the folder while the file is closed, and see if the issue returns.