Enable Emojis in Folders and Filenames - It's time ⌛️ - The 🌎‌ is using emojis

[nickmilo]

Hey Dropbox, it's almost 2022 and the world is using emojis.

They are not going away. But you've been dragging your feet on emoji support for folders and filenames for a few years now. It was a trickle in 2018, but it's almost 2022 and the dam has broken.

Your competitors are offering emoji support already. Emojis are unicode. This shouldn't be an issue. Let's make it happen.

This isn't the first, second, or third time emojis have been brought up on this forum. See:

• 2019 - Enable emojis in file names
• 2020 - Dropbox not syncing files with emojis in the filename 
• 2021 - Emoji filenames NOT syncing 

I find this troubling. Is the inability for Dropbox to support emojis a leading indicator?

Is Dropbox slowly sinking?  Should I head for the life boats?

 Is it a harbinger of it's inability to evolve?

We, the Dropbox users for over a decade, kindly but firmly request emoji support in folders and filenames.

🙏

[Emmet]

Thank you for your idea. We recently updated a similar idea, and have no further updates to share at the moment. Please note that we do regularly re-review and we will update you if anything changes!

[Badjer]

You have my vote 

I am a visual person & use emojis all the time. They help bring my attention to things if used properly & would love to use for organizational purposes. However, due to the current limitation, I cannot use them in the file & folder names

Have my vote

[fncll]

I use various plain text organizing tools. Some of them name files based on how they are created/linked inside the web of plain text files...sometimes these are emojis. The inability to sync some basic unicode filenames like emoji is kind of crazy in nearly 2022!

[dpw67]

I sympathize with Nick that it should make sense to allow emoji's in folder and file names as Unicode characters. However, I understand from a technical perspective why this is a problem since Dropbox must support so many operating systems, frameworks, languages, character sets, and encodings. At least they could provide an article on their web site that explains why they can't support emoji's for folder and file names, especially because it's not obvious why this would be any problem.

Although it works fairly well for iOS and macOS apps, it's not so easy with other platforms, and Dropbox must support them all with their cloud storage solution. It can be a problem with different languages (and versions) such as JavaScript, Java, .NET, Swift, Python, etc. Network APIs for network messages can be a special problem, as well as properly handling character sets and encoding for files. There's even a Dropbox API that must handle folder and file requests via their REST interface.

Allowing emoji's in folder and file names might cause unpredictable results and even exceptions in different circumstance. Even when it appears that emoji's can be entered, they may not display visually as expected when accessed. 

For example, even though Windows 10 add an Emoji picker that allows users to select emoji's in folder and file names, they still won't display visually everywhere like you might expect, such as the Windows Command Prompt (although it works in PowerShell and Windows Terminal).

I am upvoting this item because Dropbox should write an official article that explains restrictions on folder and file names, even though it probably is not practical for them to actually support this.  🙂 

[fncll]

Why is this more complicated than supporting unicode characters in filenames to support other languages?

Also, why doesn't Dropbox simply support it and let the end platforms handle it, or not, as they see fit? If it works for Mac/iOS -- and it does with other synching services -- then shouldn't users on other platforms use tools that function properly with unicode in filenames rather than restricting it for all?

[Mgguinne]

Come on. Please add this

[Suyash Chandna]

Dropbox its 2022 now please add emojies.

[sandrino]

So far I have found a few emoji that DO work with Dropbox file names.. For example: ☹️ :white_circle: :white_heavy_check_mark: :cross_mark: :question_mark::double_exclamation_mark::exclamation_mark::star: :warning: :airplane: :left_arrow: ♦️:pencil:

I wonder.... Why do these work fine, but most others are flagged?

[Emmet]

Thank you for your idea. We recently updated a similar idea, and have no further updates to share at the moment. Please note that we do regularly re-review and we will update you if anything changes!

[ArtisanShrew]

💁🏻‍:female_sign: And for those of you who want to use emojis, I've discovered over the years that a handful of them DO work!

And to help my fellow emoji-loving Dropbox users (until Dropbox enables emojis) I took the time to test EVERY emoji that works in dropbox and listed it below:

☺️☹️☠️✌️✋✍️

⛑:shamrock:✨:high_voltage:️:comet::sun:
:sun_behind_cloud:️:cloud::cloud_with_lightning_and_rain::snowflake::snowman::snowman_without_snow:️
:umbrella_with_rain_drops:️:umbrella:

:hot_beverage:️
⚽️⚾️⛳️
⛸⛹️‍:female_sign:⛹️⛹️‍:male_sign:

:airplane::sailboat:️:fuel_pump:️:anchor:️:fountain:️
:umbrella_on_ground::mountain::tent:️:church:️:shinto_shrine:

:watch:️:keyboard::telephone::stopwatch::timer_clock::alarm_clock:
:hourglass_done:️:hourglass_not_done::balance_scale::hammer_and_pick::pick::gear:
:crossed_swords::coffin::funeral_urn::alembic:

:envelope::scissors::black_nib::pencil:
❤️❣️

:peace_symbol::latin_cross::star_and_crescent::om::wheel_of_dharma::star_of_david:
:dotted_six_pointed_star::menorah::yin_yang::orthodox_cross::place_of_worship::ophiuchus:
:aries:️:taurus:️:gemini:️:cancer:️:leo:️:virgo:️
:libra:️:scorpio:️:sagittarius:️:capricorn:️:aquarius:️:pisces:️
:id_button::atom_symbol:

:radioactive::biohazard::eight_pointed_star:
:japanese_secret_button::japanese_congratulations_button::cross_mark::heavy_large_circle:️:no_entry:️:hot_springs:

:exclamation_mark:️:white_exclamation_mark::question_mark::white_question_mark::double_exclamation_mark::exclamation_question_mark:
:dim_button::bright_button::part_alternation_mark::warning::children_crossing::trident_emblem::fleur_de_lis:

:japanese_symbol_for_beginner::recycling_symbol::white_heavy_check_mark::japanese_reserved_button:️:sparkle::eight_spoked_asterisk::cross_mark_button:
:circled_m::wheelchair_symbol:️

⚧:information::keycap_0::keycap_1::keycap_2::keycap_3::keycap_4:
:keycap_5::keycap_6::keycap_7::keycap_8::keycap_9::hash::asterisk:
⏏️:play_button::pause_button::play_or_pause_button::stop_button::record_button::next_track_button:
:last_track_button::fast_forward_button::fast_reverse_button::fast_up_button::fast_down_button::reverse_button::right_arrow:
:left_arrow::up_arrow::down_arrow::up_right_arrow::down_right_arrow::down_left_arrow::up_left_arrow:
:up_down_arrow::left_right_arrow::left_arrow_curving_right::right_arrow_curving_left::right_arrow_curving_up::right_arrow_curving_down:

:heavy_plus_sign::heavy_minus_sign::heavy_division_sign::heavy_multiplication_x:
:infinity:️:trade_mark::copyright::registered:
:wavy_dash::curly_loop::double_curly_loop:

:heavy_check_mark::ballot_box_with_check::black_circle:️:white_circle:️
:black_small_square::white_small_square::black_medium_small_square:️:white_medium_small_square:️
:black_medium_square::white_medium_square::black_large_square:️:white_large_square:️
♠️♣️♥️♦️

These emojis were tested on an iPhone 13ProMax on IOS 15.6.1 using the Dropbox app. (10.21.22)

I'm unsure how or why these specific ones work but they do! 💕 Please keep in mind, using emojis for filenames where it is permitted (icloud, obsidian, etc) can create can conflicts if/when trying to Sync with Dropbox.

Though I have never had any issues locating my dropbox files with the above emojis, I cannot guarantee this.

I find using the dash symbol (-) BEFORE I use any emoji makes it VERY easy to locate [ALL] emoji files at once - to easily correct if you change your mind.

[mattlohkamp]

wow I kind of can't believe that the official response is "No."

Is this weird anti-emoji sentiment or something?

Why wouldn't dropbox fully support any filename the host filesystem supports? I could see this being a feature you wouldn't ship with at launch, but for a mature piece of software that's been an industry standard for over a decade now? In the face of competitors like Google Drive supporting it? I'm honestly surprised.