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Why do files open as read-only on Windows computer?

I am using Dropbox desktop App on my Mac (home) and PC (work). On the Mac (OSX latest version and Office 2011) everything works fine. But on my PC (Windows 7 Pro, Office 2010) files open as Read Only. If I go to Properties and uncheck "read only" for the file or folder in question, it is fine. But when I reboot, all my Dropbox files once again default to "read only". Can you help?

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rabinmoser

wrote:
I don't understand why when I open a file - it asks me at the top if I want to enable editing. Which I DO! so I click on it. But after i have closed the document and reopened it the edits I have made have gone. Does anyone know how you save edits on Dropbox withoutmoving a file/document out of dropbox every time?

I have the same problem in my smart phone. After I make a change in an excel file, I have to save a copy. Then delete the original. That is the solution I found.

All comments

Nick P.35

I am having the same problem with my Mac. I imported a bunch of files into dropbox and now excel insists on trying to open them all read only. if I move the file out of the dropbox folder, it opens fine. It is only in the dropbox folder that it screws up.

Nick P.35

This solution is for Mac. Dropbox has a bug that doesn't clear the hidden lock file. Mac doesn't make it easy to view hidden files like on Windows. I tried several options and this worked first shot and is from a reputable source.

This will set Finder to show hidden files. 1 - Run a script to show hidden files. 2 - Manually delete the lock files which will be shown in faded color. Then you run the script to hide hidden files again.

http://www.howtogeek.com/211496/how-to-hide-files-and-view-hidden-files-on-mac-os-x/

I just did this and it worked perfectly.

Theresa D.4

I am having the same problem with my dropbox files - but not on a mac. I have unchecked the whole dropbox folder, unchecked individual folders, given administrator permissions and tried every which way to correct it, but each time I open the program I am told the files are read only.

Theresa D.4

I have tried restarting the computer - and this time was told that Windows Firewall blocked some aspects of Dropbox. I checked that it should be allowed through.

Then tried again to change the read only designation, but without success. I even tried the advanced mode and unchecked the other choices (archiving and searching) but it made no difference. Even though I give admin permissions, when I look again they are back to being read only.

Randy O.3

I saved my excel files from my MacBook Pro OS X 10.10.5 to DropBox. Now when I open either in DropBox or save to my desk top I can Read Only. Will not allow me to make changes. Help! This just started after my update to OS X 10.10.5. How do I fix this?

Thomas F.4

I had this problem all last year on my school PC running Windows 7. IT was at a loss and never solved it. The machiine was wiped and Dropbox reinstalled over the summer and now it works fine.

Thomas F.4

On a Mac, you might try running Disk Utility and doing a "Repair Permissions"

Randy O.3

Thank you Thomas F. I tried running the Repair twice and still I have the same problem. I have an appointment at Apple later this week to go by and see if they can fix this issue. This started after I upgraded to the OS X 10.10.5

Thomas F.4

OK. For me the update caused no problem. It worked fine on my Mac at home but accessing the same files on my PC at work gave me the read only problem.

Randy O.3

When I try to open file in DropBox I get this message: The file may be read only, or you may be trying to access a read only file location. Or the server the document is stored on may not be responding.

When I try to save file to my lap top I get the same message. I am trying to revise and update these spreadsheets and I have had no luck so far correcting this problem. These files were originally saved as workable spreadsheets. I never save as a read only file. I use a MacBook Pro.

michele c.5

Same problem here. Macs 10.10.5, excel open files stored in a dropbox folder with read-only status. Help.

Theresa D.4

The solution that worked for me was to SHARE the files with myself. It wasn't only the dropbox files though, it was all of my files on the computer that had become read only. I had to SHARE each drive with myself. All works fine now.

Randy O.3

I fixed my problem by updating my Microsoft. I had not check for updates in a while. When I did, I had updates, after that was complete my problems were solved in dropbox.

Josh S.15

Hi,

I am sharing files from an iMac running Yosemite and Windows 7 home edition PC. All files on the PC in properties are marked with 'read-only'. Did any of the community solve this?

Normek Industri

Does your files contain a forward slash in it's file name? If so, try removing it and see if that helps, worked like a charm for me at least.

Deborah D.

I don't understand why when I open a file - it asks me at the top if I want to enable editing. Which I DO! so I click on it. But after i have closed the document and reopened it the edits I have made have gone. Does anyone know how you save edits on Dropbox withoutmoving a file/document out of dropbox every time?

Rich

I don't understand why when I open a file - it asks me at the top if I want to enable editing.

Are you opening the file directly from the Dropbox website? Files opened through a web browser are typically marked as Read Only.

But after i have closed the document and reopened it the edits I have made have gone.

When you open a file directly from the Dropbox website (or any website) that file is downloaded to temporary storage. If you make changes to the file and just save it as is, you're saving the copy in temporary storage. That file is not saved back to Dropbox automatically. You need to upload it back to Dropbox yourself.

Instead of selecting Save, select Save As and save the file to a location that's easy to get to (i.e. your Desktop, Downloads, etc.). When done, go back to the Dropbox website and upload the file to the folder you want it to be in.

Deborah D.

Thank you...that makes sense...although it's a bit of a pain! Because I assume you then have to go through the whole process of uploading the file and also remember to dump the old one. But again, thank you for explaining!

Matthew P.13

Normek Industriservice AS - YES!! I tried everyone elses complicated solutions and the fix was as simple as removing the forward slash - TRY THIS FIRST

Sair L.

I'm having this same issue at with our dropbox file on our work Macs.

We share a bunch of files in dropbox and now excel insists on trying to open them all read only. if I move the file out of the dropbox folder, it opens fine. It is only in the dropbox folder that it screws up.

I've done all the updates, there are no forward slashes in the file names. I've recreated the files so they are unlocked, but as soon as I put them in the dropbox they are locked again "read only'.

Are there any other options to try?

Josh S.15

SOLVED:

I found that the reason for 'read only' was my Mac was saving as 'nameOfDocument.doc' and my PC was saving as 'nameOfDocument.docx.

Note that they are different file formats. (.doc and .docx)

Please upvote if this works for you. So people don't need to spend as long as us

Michael S.217

Another solution I've found is to pause sync while you are editing your files - this appears to solve the read only issue. Simply turn sync back on after you have completed your edits.

Might be a special case - but I'm dual booting Windows/Mac on a Macbook and had read only issues constantly until turning sync off while I was editing files.

Brian D.33

Thanks Michael S., hitting pause sync does seem to help with the files opening as read only on my work PC. It's a little annoying to have to do that everytime I want to work on a file, but probably the simplest fix for now.

Thomas R.20

I am seeing alot of questions here, but not many solutions. Does dropbox not participate in this Forum Why doesn't Dropbox state this as a problem and provide an FAQ fix. I am just thinking of forgetting DropBox altogether and going to OneDrive

Rich

Does dropbox not participate in this Forum

This is primarily a user supported forum. While a Dropboxer (that's a Dropbox employee) does post once in a while, the majority of the people replying here are users that volunteer their time. If you want an official response from Dropbox, then you need to open a ticket with Support.

Open your ticket here: https://www.dropbox.com/support
Track your ticket here: https://dropbox.zendesk.com

Replies take approximately 1 - 3 business days with Pro users getting priority (longer for Basic users).

Lisa J.15

Thank you I was having the same problem on my Mac and just removed the '/' from the file name and they are opening fine now :-)

Jorge W.

As Nick P. already mentioned, as this turned out to be the solution for me:

http://www.howtogeek.com/211496/how-to-hide-files-and-view-hidden-files-on-mac-os-x/

My problem on my Mac was that .xlsx files were opening read only when opening from local dropbox folder, but the file perfectly opened (not read only) when I moved that file out of the dropbox folder. So the problem really is temporary files, Remove them and your problem is solved.

Davg

If you are using the app from the appstore Try uninstalling the app and go to dropbox,com and download dropbox directly.

ams58

This is an awful bandaid to a HUGE problem Dropbox needs to fix!!

clinkinfo

Has anyone actually fixed this? I'm having the read only issue on my PC. None of the solutions show here do anything.

Everytime I change the folders and remove the read only flag, the PC immediatelly puts the flag back on!

What is going on?