Replace files without breaking the shared link on desktop application for Mac

[DocMolly]

Hello, 

I have used Dropbox for years to share PDFs on my website. I work on a mac and use the Dropbox desktop application. Previously, when I wanted to replace a PDF under the same name in Dropbox, I just had to save the new PDF by selecting the file I wanted to replace within the Dropbox folder on my Mac. I would click REPLACE and it automatically updated the PDF under the same name without affecting the shared link. Recently, I noticed this is no longer the case. It now deletes the original file and replaces it with a new file under the same name. This breaks the link.

Fortunately,  you can replace a file under the same name without affecting the link directly in Dropbox via a browser. This is not as slick, so I hope you bring back this functionality to the desktop app for mac. 

Thank you! 

Molly

[Mstrcreative]

I just updated my Dropbox app for OS. I reduced a pdf file size and re—saved over the original file with the same name on Dropbox and it broke the link. So this behavior has changed FYI. Latest OS etc.

[doss]

Same here. It's not working at all. My links break and only when linking PDFs.

[doss]

This solution is not working for me with PDFs. I've tried the updating and saving to a different area then moving it into Db. I still receive the message that the file has been deleted.

[Jay]

Hi @doss, it depends on how the app you're using saves files. It could simply overwrite the existing file, thus preserving the link, or it could delete the original and save the new version, deleting the shared link.

Upload the file directly to the site would overwrite it automatically and preserve the shared link.

[Mstrcreative]

Yeah that is not what is going on here. If you have a file on Dropbox and you see the file size is too big or you need to fix and error in the past you would replace/save the file with a file of the same file name without it breaking the link. Now it breaks the link. The only way around this I have found (and this only works for fixing a small error like a misspelled word) is to use the native Dropbox editor online. From desktop any file replaced breaks the link now.

[doss]

Yes, none of the foxes are working. I tried this with my PDF—the link continues to break. With Word, the fix of saving somewhere else and then uploading replacing it in Db worked.

Can I not just have whatever update caused this problem reversed? This causing a big problem as I share a ton of links across multiple team members.

[doss]

This doesn’t work with PDFs. I need a different fix. This is definitely causing problems for me. If I can’t fix it, I’ll need to switch to a different cloud storage, which I don’t want to do at all.

[Jay]

Did you recently upgrade to a different OS, or did the Dropbox desktop application upgrade?

[Mstrcreative]

It’s been like this since November but I can’t tell what was the cause with a 100 percent accuracy. After I upgraded the native os app for Dropbox when they changed the location in finder that is when I noticed this flaw. It’s so bad that I’m considering abandoning Dropbox. They don’t seem to care about this at all.

[doss]

This problem started with the last Db upgrade, I think. It’s been happening for awhile. I only recently upgraded to Ventura—I don’t think my MacOS is the issue.