Excel files - Dropbox cannot find file - "It may have been moved, renamed or deleted..." HELP me!

Hildegard B. · ‎05-15-2015

Hi i am having major issues with especially excel files. Whether 'drag and drop' them into my dropbox file - or 'save as' them, and later want to access them - it says: "Cannot find file / File may have been moved, renamed or deleted."

I run my entire computer off dropbox and now am having major issues. Please help me.

Erin J.1 · ‎11-19-2015

I have been experiencing the same issue. I think it has something to do with re-arranging folder through your Desktop and not letting enough time for DropBox to sync. The only way I have been able to retrieve my files is to no open and email to myself from my desktop file folders, it is a pain. I am planning to call DropBox if there is no quick response here.

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Aleksis K. · ‎11-26-2015

So I think I figured out the issue. It seems to be that Excel will only open files with file names under 216 characters, so if a file is embedded in many sub-folders with long names, the file name will easily exceed that limit. Obviously, this largely Excel's fault especially since the error says the file has been deleted or moved instead of simply notifying the name is too long. But Dropbox is also to blame. Since Dropbox won't share sub folders separately from the parent, we end up using very long parent and sub folder names.

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Jay · ‎05-31-2018

Actually, the Excel limit is separate to the Windows character limit.

Windows has a maximum of 256 characters in the filepath. Excel however has 216, which is not device specific, so this should also apply to Mac versions of Excel.

Usually though, using the bad files check is the best way to see all the files that could have some issues similar to this matter.

[This thread is now closed by moderators due to inactivity. If you're experiencing a similar behavior, feel free to start a new discussion in the Dropbox Community here.]

Jay
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support

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View solution in original post

Erin J.1 · ‎11-19-2015

I have been experiencing the same issue. I think it has something to do with re-arranging folder through your Desktop and not letting enough time for DropBox to sync. The only way I have been able to retrieve my files is to no open and email to myself from my desktop file folders, it is a pain. I am planning to call DropBox if there is no quick response here.

Hildegard B. · ‎11-23-2015

Thanks Erin - that seems to work... Appreciate.

Aleksis K. · ‎11-25-2015

Same problem with Excel and Dropbox. Seemed to happen after parent folder name change on desktop. Very concerning.

Erin J.1 · ‎11-25-2015

You can also avoid this issue by re-naming and moving folders around IN Dropbox vs on your desktop. This will avoid the syncing lapse that is causing this problem.

Aleksis K. · ‎11-26-2015

So I think I figured out the issue. It seems to be that Excel will only open files with file names under 216 characters, so if a file is embedded in many sub-folders with long names, the file name will easily exceed that limit. Obviously, this largely Excel's fault especially since the error says the file has been deleted or moved instead of simply notifying the name is too long. But Dropbox is also to blame. Since Dropbox won't share sub folders separately from the parent, we end up using very long parent and sub folder names.

Charlie Z. · ‎01-01-2016

It's not a problem with Dropbox alone. The same happens most of the time when you transfer or save Excel files from your email or flash drive to your desktop folder. This headache started to occur in Windows 8, 8.1 & 10. Never experienced this problem with earlier versions.

Michael m.210 · ‎07-11-2016

Thanks Alexsis! We were experiencing the same problem and your fix worked. Much appreciated!

elocuent · ‎05-30-2018

Yep, thats exactly the problem. Thank you for pointing it out... talking from 2018 and this still an issue.... (in Mac)

Mark · ‎05-30-2018

The issue shouldnt happen on a Mac as the character limit only applies to Windows

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Excel files - Dropbox cannot find file - "It may have been moved, renamed or deleted..." HELP me!

Excel files - Dropbox cannot find file - "It may have been moved, renamed or deleted..." HELP me!

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