You can't copy the item because its name is too long er includes characters that are invalid on the.

[DeepFilip]

Hi,
I have a Dropbox account with 2TB of which 6% is full right now. I am trying to copy a folder that only has a couple of GBs and I am getting this error message. What is wrong with the filename "IMG_4474.JPG"? I have copied folders with these type of filenames before and it worked perfectly. I am on a Macbook Pro with OS Mojave

[Canon4me]

The problem for me is my hard drive on my laptop is only 250 gigabytes and what I'm trying to copy from my external drive to dropbox is about 700 gigabytes, so I can't do what you recommended.  Also, the I tried to copy the suspected long files to iCloud Drive and it copied just fine.  The problem with the error message from Dropbox is it brings the copying to halt, it won't bypass the suspected files and continue.

[mev9313]

Same problem here. Dropbox support has truly been no help. And I've spent hours now documenting and experimenting with them.... until today when they sent me to this string. This explanation is not very helpful. I've been using Dropbox for years and years without this issue. Of course, it might be Apple's fault, which support suggested as well.

One reason I question this "your file name is too long" answer is that longer names in the same folder will copy. Why does one copy and one does not? Sometimes if I wait a couple of days and try again, it will copy. On a few, I went to dropbox.com and the file was there, despite getting the error message and a grayed out folder on my desktop. Unless I'm missing something, the long filename explanation just doesn't hold. 

[Jay]

Hi @mev9313, in order to understand what you're experiencing, could you attach a screenshot of what you're seeing on your machine?

[mev9313]

I have spent hours documenting this problem for Dropbox Support. Here's one example, where the error message says the file can't be uploaded due to incompatible characters. On the right, you see the dropbox menu where it did actually upload not once, but twice. 

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[Hannah]

Thanks for the screenshot, @mev9313 and sorry to jump in here. 

Can you also send us the ticket number from your communication with our support team, so we can take a look into that as well?

Thanks.

[mev9313]

Ticket #15994964

Assigned to: John

Honestly, I've about given up on this. All support has done is wait 48 hours and then give me another task to do. In the meantime, I'm trying to get my files backed up and get back to work. Dropbox has been great for many years, but I'm looking for other solutions since this has been such a pain and taken so much time up.

[Walter]

Hey @mev9313, thanks for the ticket ID - much appreciated!

I was able to locate on our system and passed your comments there in order to  have all the relevant information in one place.

If you'd like further assistance on this, I'd recommend getting back to the expert handling your case. 

Let us know if you have anything else to add or ask in the meantime. 

PS: I'm not sure if you've tried this, but does the issue persist after renaming the problematic files or shortening their file-paths? 

[mev9313]

My latest workaround is to copy the items one at a time into dropbox, then move them into a folder.

This example shows the inconsistencies in the dropbox errors.

I moved the folder SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER VERSIONS and it copied with no problem. Inside it is a folder called TH21-Derm-Excision Referrals. 

I had a second, later version of TH21-Derm-Excision Referrals that I moved to the same folder as SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER (but not in SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER). It came back with the "too long/incompatible character" error a couple of files. I selected each file in error and moved it individually. No problem. I then created a new folder with the same name and moved them into the folder. Again, no problem. 

I'll share this latest revelation with my expert, but he's really been no help at all to this point. 

[kylestauffer]

I've been battling this for a month now. I'm attempting to move our file archive of 64TB(!) onto DB and keep getting these stupid errors. They're random. Sometimes it's one folder, the next it's one inside it. They're all short file names, and no special characters. It's a bug, despite what support says.  I don't even know that I can trust DB to have all the files and not corrupt at this point. 

I'm on MacOS High Sierra on that machine. 

[Walter]

Hey @kylestauffer, sorry to hear about this.

Can you send  us a screenshot of the exact error you're getting so that we can have a visual too?

Also, have you tried doing this in smaller batches of files or through a web browser instead? Do you also get an error there?