Dropbox appears to save, but file is missing

[ClareBear89]

I'm having trouble with saving a few files to Dropbox. It's installed on my PC. I create the file and save it in my Dropbox file, as I have done for the last few years I've used Dropbox. 

When I open my files, the new Dropbox files are not appearing. My old files are still there, but the new ones I just saved are not there. 

I reopened both Word and PowerPoint (I used both programs to create recent documents) and resaved teh files. It even asked me if I wanted to replace my copy of the file, so the computer thinks it was already saved. 

But once I go to open the file in the folder, the file is not there. I feel like I'm losing my mind. 

[Jay]

Hi Clare, if the files are saving in the Dropbox folder on your PC, but they’re not appearing online, then it means that the desktop app isn’t syncing.

Could you confirm the version of the Dropbox desktop application you're running? 

You can do this by hovering your mouse over the Dropbox icon in the system tray or menu bar. It should say something like 53.4. 

Also, does it state ‘syncing’, ‘up to date’ or any other messages?

Keep me posted!

[ClareBear89]

Hi Jay,

This is the confusing part. I can't see the files on my PC either. I can't reopen the file unless I right click on Word or PowerPoint and open a recent file. But I can't find the file listed anywhere on my PC, even though it's somehow saved. The version I'm using is 53.4.67. 

What's also weird is that I can copy and paste into Dropbox on my computer. I just can't save directly from an Office program. 

[ClareBear89]

Okay I believe I've solved part of the problem. I had an inactive Dropbox folder in "My Documents" where I was saving my files. I deleted that inactive folder, resaved the documents in the actual active Dropbox folders, and that seems to have fixed the problem. So I have a new question here....Why the heck is dropbox creating inactive phantom folders? After I successfully saved teh file to Dropbox, I noticed a new, inactive dropbox folder was created in "My Documents." What is going on?

[Jay]

Thanks for the update.

The Dropbox desktop application shouldn’t be creating any new folders outside of the Dropbox folder.

My assumption is that Word or Powerpoint is doing it somehow (perhaps that was where the recent files were located), since it happened when you saved the file in the Dropbox folder, or there could be another app that is doing so.

Does this only happen when you save files from the Office apps, or does it occur when saving any files from other apps?

Could you try temporarily closing the Dropbox desktop application from the system tray (by clicking it once, then the gear icon, and Quit) and save a file again to see if this happens once more? Thanks!

[ClareBear89 · Accepted solution]

I closed the Dropbox application, restarted the computer, and everything seems to be working normally. I created and saved a new file to dropbox, and it saved appropriately with no phantom folders being created anywhere else. So I guess the problem is solved (Thank you!!!), but I just wish I knew what caused the problem in the first place!