Can't access a folder: 'This folder does not exist' error

[Andreas K.25]

Hi experts,

I have a strange issue with one of my folders. If I try to view the /Public/Samples folder online, regardless which browser (FireFox / Edge), I only get an error message "The folder ‘/Public/Samples’ doesn’t exist.".

I use dropbox for many years, I never had issues with that folder. In there are a lot of files which I share with the Microsoft Community.

On my home PC I use the DropBox-App and I can still sync with that folder / upload files and create links for download, anything works well, e.g.:

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/yjm7h82fe45aep45258jo/7894fb94-4f68-4b2b-9aeb-6ab221b2e9b0.xlsx?rlkey... 

There is another subfolder in the Samples folder and I can view that folder online without any problems!

Any suggestions?

EDIT: I've looked around and found that some other subfolders are showing the same error message, but others seem to be working fine... very strange.

Andreas.

[Walter]

Hey @Andreas K.25, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

Could you please clear your browser's cache and/or try another browser, preferably with no extensions or plugins running and let me know if you get the same error?

If you do, I'd appreciate a screenshot too.

Thanks!

[Andreas K.25]

Walter,

Thank you for taking care of my problem.

I have this issue on different PC with different OS and different browsers. I cleared the cookies / cache on Edge and Firefox / AddOns disabled, the issue persists.

Here is the screenshot:
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/axh6i294zi4pacw0guet0/Screenshot.png?rlkey=bzpodiz9awq8kn4scfambh03p&... 

I've marked all folders I can not access with a red arrow, all others work as usual. The subfolder "Save as CSV UTF-8" also works as usual.

Everything worked fine until about a few days/weeks ago, the error came up for the first time today. Give me a sign if you need more information.

Andreas.

[Walter]

Instead of a link, could you attach a screenshot in your reply @Andreas K.25 ?

To do so, you can click on the camera icon (insert photos option) within your reply's box. 

[Andreas K.25]

Walter,

I'm sorry, I thought you could view images shared with DropBox. 🙂

Andreas.

[Walter]

Do you happen to be using a 3rd party app/software to create or move those files in Dropbox @Andreas K.25?

Could you try copying or moving them to another location and let me know if they give the same error? 

[Andreas K.25]

Walter,

the files itself in that folder do not have any issues, AFAIK the download links works, I hope also the older ones in the community.

Here is one to a file uploaded 9 years ago
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/bl5so684ffz6698nr5wnk/7ef62b97-1253-45e0-9b2c-723cf1cf9217.zip?rlkey=...

no problem at all.

The only thing I noticed is that the new download link in that folder now seems to have an rlkey token, which was not there in the past. Also other files in different folders do not have that, e.g.:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/eow60utqq4nf1gr/AK.zip?dl=1 

Both works, so I don't care about that. But it seems that all the folders in which the files have this new rlkey token are not accessible online anymore.

At my home PC I use the DropBox app (Version 179.4.4985) to sync the files and create download links, no issue at all.

Only if I try to access the folder online (from my home PC or other PC when I'm on the road) I get the error message that the folder doesn't exists.

As far as I've seen, 4 folders are affected by this problem. All other folders works the same as all the years before.

Andreas.

[Walter]

Thanks for the additional information @Andreas K.25 - most appreciated.

Dropbox is moving to an updated shared link architecture where links are based on content rather than on users. This will affect how links are created and shared. 

As you noticed, the new links can be identified by the presence of an ‘rlkey’ parameter in the URL. For these links, the above behavior will perform differently:

The entire ‘rlkey’ parameter must be retained for the URL to grant recipients permission rights to access the file or folder.

That said, have you tried adjusting your account's sharing settings to allow for public viewing? 

[Andreas K.25]

Walter,

does that mean my older download links (without the rlkey) do not work anymore?

This are my settings, untouched for years:

Also that works perfectly fine. After I created a download link I change the dl=0 to dl=1 in almost any case, because I do not want my customers to view the file online, because that's senseless in my case, my calculation models only works in the desktop version of Excel.

Anyway, how do I get the online access to my folders back?

Andreas.

[jcicora]

I have a file path home/HOA Reports/Reports/2021

I can see and open the HOA Reports folder

With the suggested shortcuts I can jump straight to the home/HOA Reports/Reports/2021 folder
However if I try to navigate to the home/HOA Reports/Reports folder, I get a "The folder ‘/HOA Reports/Reports’ doesn’t exist." message.

Any ideas on how to fix this, short of jumping into each subfolder and moving it to a new folder?