what is cfl.dropboxstatic.com.url

[Charles D.23]

I recently had all my files in a shared folder deleted.  I was able to go in and restore them all, but in the process found one suspicious file, which I did not restore which was "cfl.dropboxstatic.com.url".  Does anyone know what that might be?

Next to all my deleted files was "Dale".  One of my users is Dale, but he says it wasn't him?

[James H.84]

Has anyone from dropbox ever replied on this? 

[Vicky]

Hi Charles,

Thank you for reporting this issue. At the moment our team is investigating and we will get back to you as soon as possible.

[Rich]

I've seen this before, and have done it myself a few times.

Dropbox has the ability to save URLs that you drag into its window. That's all that's happening here. You're intending to click on something, whether to view or select, while you're still moving your mouse. Your browser sees this as a click and drag, and Dropbox treats that as though you're dragging something into its window. Basically, you're dragging a link into the Dropbox window and Dropbox is saving it. In this case it just happens to be a link to a Dropbox file or folder.

If you edit that URL file in a text editor you'll see the link that you dragged.

[Charred_Lee]

Hi Vicky - 

Same weird file in my folders. What is it ?

Thank you !

[Rich]

...taps the microphone...

Is this thing on?

Edit the file in a text editor and look at the content.

[Sanchez]

Hey guys, 

As my colleague mentioned earlier, we are currently investigating the exact cause of this file. However, I can confirm that the file can be safely deleted, with no effect on your files or your account! 

Thanks

[Mark]

Or @Sanchez you could read what @Rich said a fortnight ago (with no further posts since so not sure why the thread was bumped?) and look at the file which shows its a URL accidentally dragged in.

[Rich]

Once again...

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Rich wrote:

I've seen this before, and have done it myself a few times.

Dropbox has the ability to save URLs that you drag into its window. That's all that's happening here. You're intending to click on something, whether to view or select, while you're still moving your mouse. Your browser sees this as a click and drag, and Dropbox treats that as though you're dragging something into its window. Basically, you're dragging a link into the Dropbox window and Dropbox is saving it. In this case it just happens to be a link to a Dropbox file or folder.

If you edit that URL file in a text editor you'll see the link that you dragged.

---

[Niva]

I am getting this same thing. What is this? I just deleted it. I am hoping it wont affect my files.

[RichardDBX · Accepted solution]

Hi all, apologies for the confusion here — I can help provide some information.

Background:  Dropbox allows you to save website URLs to Dropbox as individual files. For example, if you were to navigate to www.dropbox.com, then drag and drop the URL from the URL bar of your web browser into Dropbox, it would result in a file being created called "www.dropbox.com.url". If you were to click on that file, it will open a new browser window or tab and take you to that page.

Now, about the "cfl.dropboxstatic.com.url" files: we had a temporary issue with our new redesigned website where, in some cases, dragging and dropping a file in your Dropbox on the website (for example, to drag it into another folder, or by accident) would mistakenly add it to your Dropbox as a URL file.

We've since fixed this issue, so you shouldn't see it happen again; however, if you have any of these cfl files in your account, you can simply delete them – they're harmless!