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Download is splitting folders with MACOSX folder which is not visible on Dropbox

Mac osx - strange extra files appearing when downloading files directly.

JefW
Collaborator | Level 9

Just had a strange issue with some files that I directly downloaded from our DB folders.
On the website, I went to one of my shared folders from another team member, and clicked on 2 files (illustrator) and one folder that contained several photoshop images.
I chose to direct download option and downloaded them to my desktop. They downloaded to the zip file, like usual. BUT... when I uncompressed the zip file, there was an ADDITIONAL folder named "__MACOSX" - when I opened that, there was a repeat of the same Illustrator files and the PSD folder, but the file names were changed (most had underscores in them). In addition, these files were very small in size (70 bytes for example, when they should have been 3.3MB - same thing for the PSD images they were all around 100kb or less, when they should have been several MB).
I asked my co-worker to repeat the process on his computer (different OS that what I'm using, but still on a mac) and he had the same thing happen.

Any idea's what's happening? Is this just a glitch?

I'm on an imac, running OS 10.11.6

71 Replies 71

EstherWilliams
New member | Level 2

After downloading a folder it is being received as 2 folders; 1 of which is named _MACOSX.  This folder is not visible to the original uploader of the docs or is it not visible on Dropbox to shared participants.

As you go through the sub folders of both original named folder and it's MACOSX counterpart the files are not duplicated.

Can anyone help remedy this please?

 

Lusil
Dropbox Staff

Hey there @EstherWilliams, thanks for checking in with us!

I've moved your post to this thread to keep similar questions together, since other users also report this.

As @Daphne mentions earlier herethe __MACOSX folder is a hidden folder containing metadata of the files. However, its contents may be read by Windows OS. 

You can have a look at what @Rich and @Labtab  mention above, but I also found this thread from Apple's Community where other users talked about this. 

I hope this helps to some extent!


Lusil
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


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EstherWilliams
New member | Level 2

Great, thank you, it's somewhere to start.



 

saribeth
New member | Level 2

I am having the exact same issue with the strange additional _MACOSX file being generated. I am working on a new Macbook Pro 16" OSX 10.15.4

RoSc
New member | Level 2

Hey, everyone, wondering if a solution was ever found for this issue. The same exact thing happens to me when downloading a Dropbox folder to my Mac. I get an additional folder named _MACOSX containing a duplicate of the dowloaded folder and inside it only some of its files, all 70 bytes and cannot be opened. A message about the files being damaged and harmful.

My question is: does anyone know if deleting these _MACOSX folders would affect the main downloaded folders?

Thank you in advanced for your help!

awerneck
New member | Level 2

Hi Jef.
I'm surprised that after more than a year, the Dropbox Help Team did not answered about the issue. You couldn't have been more didactic and patient.
I've just got into these answers now because I have the same issue on my Mac, but only today I'have decided to search for DB help.
If you have found a solution it would be great if you share.
Thanks
Antonio

JefW
Collaborator | Level 9

Thanks Antonio. Sadly I never found a solution to this annoying little glitch. I felt I had put in so much time answering questions with this thread and never getting satisfactory answers that I didn't pursue the next level of tech support - so partially my fauly, but I just figured if others are having the same problem, eventually DB will fix things with an update somewhere along the line. Hasn't happened yet. 

George PDS
Helpful | Level 5

This is now a MASSIVE problem that also happens to Window users when they try to donaload from Dropbox. The dreaded "__MACOSX" folder keeps appearing. Any files within it will produce an error resulting in clients and suppliers loosing confidence in our services. The Dropbox team have FAILED to provide clear help in this matter.

We will loose business out of this and therefore we will be forced to move away from Dropbox - simple.

George PDS
Helpful | Level 5

Your effort has been huge! the problem is totally due to the Dropbox help team being unwilling to go the extra mile to protect their service. This problem is a serious issue. We are now looking at alternatives to Dropbox.

George PDS
Helpful | Level 5

UPDATE: The exact same folders and files work without any problems in Microsoft OneDrive when downloaded on a MAC or PC. We will be using this service instead as a work around when sharing production and time critical files.

Hope this helps any Dropbox users who need an urgent solution. 

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