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Re: Cannot move folder

Unable to move the Dropbox folder as 'some files can't be moved'

Scott M.18
New member | Level 1
Go to solution

Trying to move from C drive to D drive - I am OUT of space. But keep getting error message. "SOme files can't be moved. Please select a new location or close some open files and try again..

23 Replies 23

Stephen P.35
New member | Level 2
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I've found a solution that, while somewhat complicated, will allow you to move the Dropbox folder location on Windows 10 if you get the error "Some files cannot be moved" WITHOUT re-downloading your files. This requires admin level privileges.

First, open Windows Task Manager - you can do this by right clicking on the taskbar.

Now open the Dropbox Preferences and select the Account tab. The move location button probably won't work if you're reading this guide, but you might as well try it again at this point.

Switch to Task Manager and position the window so you can see both it and Dropbox Preferences at the same time. In Task Manager, select "explorer.exe", right click it, and select 'End Task'. At this point any file explorer windows will disappear along with the taskbar. You'll get them back later. Next select the Services tab and navigate to WMPNetworkSvc. This can be done quickly by clicking the 'Name' column to sort alphabetically, selecting any service in the list, typing 'w', and scrolling down until you see it. Right click on it, and select 'Stop'.

Now switch to Dropbox Preferences and try moving your location again. This should succeed. If so, in Task Manager, select WMPNetworkSvc, right click, and select 'Start'. Then press File -> Run New Task. Type 'explorer.exe' and hit enter. This should restart your taskbar.
If your problem is solved, you're done with this guide. Otherwise I have some troubleshooting tips.


[Troubleshooting] Download Process Explorer (http://filehippo.com/download_process_explorer/) and open it as an administrator. Press CTRL-F and search for "Dropbox". Many processes should show up. Each of these could potentially be the process that is keeping your folder locked. Start by stopping/ending explorer.exe and WMPNetworkSvc and try moving the folder in the Dropbox Preferences window again. Don't kill any Dropbox.exe processes. If you find a process that is keeping Dropbox locked and is marked hidden, you can kill it using the command prompt. Take note of the process ID (PID). Open a command prompt window as an administrator, and type "Taskkill /PID [your process id] /F". After killing each subsequent process, retry moving your Dropbox folder. After a successful move, reboot your machine.

MHammett
Explorer | Level 4
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In Windows after unselecting most of my folders and trying a few other things, what ended up being effective was to run Dropbox as an Administrator. There were files that needed to be moved that required escalated privileges.

 

[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 Ask a Question section here.]

cstalt
New member | Level 2
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I have 40,000 ~300KB images in a folder. I am trying to archive them into a different folder. This folder is not synced with my computer due to size/complexity.

 

I want to move all of the files in this folder into a new folder, but it simply doesn't work on the DB website. If I wait for it to finally "select all" and do the move operation, it just hangs for hours and does nothing. Alternatively I am happy to just rename the folder [folder name]-archived but trying to rename it fails as well.

 

I have syncing on my PC paused, so that shouldn't cause a problem (even though it's not synced anyway).

Megan
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution
Hi @cstalt, welcome to our Community! 

I understand you're having issues with moving a number of files using our website—correct me if I got anything wrong please.

That's expected to happen with such a huge number of files. However, would you mind trying it on a different browser too? 

What I would suggest is that you create a new shared folder that is empty and move half the content there. 

Let me know how this goes.

Megan
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


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