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"That didn't work for some reason" error when trying to open a shared link.

I was sent ym first dropbox video link in my email. When I click on it it goes to Dropbox and says..." That didn't work for some reason. If it's a fluke refresh the page..." Upon refreshing all it does is repeat this error message. Any smart peeps out there that know what's happening? Thanks for any help you can provide!

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Lusil

Hi there @dawncoachesyou, let's see what we can do here.

Have you tried opening the file from another browser or an incognito window?

If you have and the error message persists, could you send me a screenshot of it?

Give me a shout whenever you have any updates on this, thanks!

JS62

Was not having any issues opening up any email excel/pdf files with drop box, then we had a windows update wipe everything out. After reloading windows, office, drop box... all of the sudden, links can be opened or accessed. it goes to the webpage and shows a cartoon dog in front of a bowl with text :

That didn't work for some reason

If it's a fluke, it might work if you refresh the page. You can also ask us for help.

no chat/call or email from dropbox can fix it.

bought a new computer, loaded drop box.....same issues

the sender was notified that there might be an issue with the link, he resent it and now, it will try to go to the local drop box on the computer but we receive the error mentioned in this tread.

any ideas?

JS62

Having the same issues.... did a clearing of browser history/cache etc. used incognito, took drop box for Gmail off.... nothing worked. still getting the error over and over with no solution.

Walter

Hey there @JS62; thanks for joining the discussion here.

Can you please walk me through the exact steps you take that result in this error?

JS62

Yes, certainly.

I receive an email from my client with a link to the excel or pdf files.

it looks like this in the email body

I would click on the "link" and it would open a box on my computer asking for a sign on. When I first started getting the emails, I did not have a drop box account of my own. It asked for a password, I created one and it opened up the excel/pdf file in excel or adobe.

another account sent a link and again , it asked me for a password, I put in a different PW for that account and too note of it.

I did not download Dropbox or create an account.

The computer, after an update, wiped everything out everything, no backup, no repair etc so I had to reload office, My antivirus etc.

once done, I tried to click on the same links on the original emails I used earlier (by a few days), and when asking for a password, would not accept the ones I created.

So I downloaded Dropbox and tried again, It went to the web (even thought I indicted it use the local Dropbox on my computer, and the error with the dog would appear.

contacted support with no help, tried clearing browser, using incognito etc.

suggestion was given to tell sender there was a problem with the link. we sent article on how to fix the links to the sender, he sent a new link that looked like this:

1220 - Dropbox

When we click on the link, it takes us to the local Dropbox and throws up the " folder does not exist" error :

I uninstalled drop box, reinstalled it and nothing changed.

Walter

I don't believe this is a shared link created using these steps.

Can you have the owner of those files to follow those and let us know how it goes?

JS62

We sent him that link yesterday and what came back was the second "link" on my last comment. (the shorter link).

which took us to the "folder does not exist" error instead of the Dog in front of the bowl error.

JS62

When I copy that link it shows up as: www.dropbox.com/home/[Folder1]/[Folder2]/[File1]
the original link which took us to fido was more like : www.dropbox.com/l/spri/xxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx
different.............

[Links edited by moderator as per Community Guidelines]

Daphne

It looks like they're just copying the URL when they have the folder open in their account @JS62.

This wouldn't allow access for others to view the file, while the second link example indeed is a shared link.

Can you ask them to follow the steps once more to create a shared link to the file, rather than just copying the URL?

JS62

I will try

Daphne

Okay @JS62, no problem!

Feel free to get back to me here when you've had the chance to try this out - thanks.

quenn

I was emailed and required to download a link on dropbox but when I opened it, it appears on the screen, ‘That didn’t work for some reason’

Megan

Hi there @quenn. Let's see what we can do here.

I've merged your post under this thread, which seems to echo your concern.

Would you mind taking a look, and letting me know if you have any questions?

Thanks!

Sadk

Same problem 🦮:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5unw8fr79czrwqk/20131123_175650.mp4

Hannah

Hey @Sadk, thanks for the nudge here.

Have you tried opening the link from a different browser or to clear your browser's cache, to see if that helps?

If you did and the issue persists, can you check with the person who sent you the link, to make sure that the file is still saved in their account?

jare1099

Hello. I'm getting this error when I attempt to access an audio link for a evaluation for a transcription job. I've seen several similar posts from folks experiencing the exact same issue, though no solutions or reports of resolution have been posted. I've even seen another user's post that included the link. I have the same link but will not post here because I would guess links are privileged information. Here is a screen shot. Is there any record of a user that found resolution for this?

Hannah

Hey @jare1099, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

I have moved your post to this thread, since it's about the same issue.

Have you tried any of the troubleshooting steps provided here, like trying from a different browser or from incognito?

Did you also try to clear your browser's cache?

Let me know.

jare1099

@Hannah Hello. Yes I've reached out to the sender, and have meticulously googled this same question, and sought insight on other platforms as well. Thank you for the time you took to respond. Guess all I can do no is see how this pans out with the sender.

Nancy

Hi @jare1099, sorry to jump in!

Thanks for checking in with the sender, as well. That’ll help us isolate the issue.

Whenever you have more updates from them, you can let us know here.

dp201021

I had some pics in my dropbox account and have link to that. But that link doesn't work anymore and doesn't show any pics. Instead I get a message as:

"That didn't work for some reason"

How do we get the pics?

dp201021

This was quite an old link but wonder where the pics gone from this link. Nothing in deleted files as well.

We really need to get access to these pics.

Rich

@dp201021 wrote:
I had some pics in my dropbox account and have link to that. But that link doesn't work anymore and doesn't show any pics. Instead I get a message as: "That didn't work for some reason"

Was this a link that was sent to you by someone else, or was this a link that you created?

If the link was given to you by someone else, then you were likely viewing the files directly from their account. If those files were removed or the link deleted, it would no longer be valid and you would need to contact the person that sent you the link.

If you created the link yourself, then it sounds like the files were either removed or deleted and the link is no longer valid. You would need to locate the files directly within your account. Have you tried searching for them on the Dropbox website?

dp201021

It was a link shared by us. We don't see in that account anymore. We certainly have not deleted it from cloud and not sure where our files have gone. Does dropbox delete the files on its own if they are not used for sometime?

Nancy

Hey @dp201021, sorry for jumping in here.

Dropbox doesn’t delete your files, even if you haven’t opened them for some time.

However, since it looks like you’re no longer able to access them, I’d like us to look into this further.

Do you remember when was the last time you could see them approximately on www.dropbox.com?

Also, do you see anything relevant on your Deleted files page perhaps?

dp201021

I uploaded the pictures in 2014 and I think it was accessible till 2015. I see nothing in deleted files section.

I am sharing the link with you so that you can look into this issue further -

removed link

Megan

Hey @dp201021, sorry to jump in here!

I've removed the above link, to avoid any excessive traffic to your account.

As for the missing files, did you add them to your account using the desktop app, or the website? When was the last time you saw them online?

dp201021

I do not exactly remember if I used desktop app or website and I saw those pics online in 2016. After that I tried to access them in 2022 and the link doesn't work. Also, I got the below mail from dropbox in 2016 -

Hi Jyoti,

Your Dropbox is full and is no longer syncing files. New files added to your Dropbox folder won't be accessible on your other devices and won't be backed up online.

Upgrade your Dropbox today and get 1 TB (1,000 GB) of space and powerful sharing features.

Jay

Hi @dp201021, if the shared link doesn't work any more, then it would mean that either the link itself was deleted, or the folder or files it referred to was deleted from the account.

If you're not seeing the missing files on the deleted files page, then there's a few possibilities as to why this might be the case:

The files are on another Dropbox account
They were on a shared folder you don't have access to any more
The files were deleted outside of the 30 day period
The files were permanently deleted

dp201021

None of the above applies. Files were there in my account in dropbox.

Hannah

Sorry to jump in here, @dp201021, but is there a possibility that you didn't access your Dropbox account at all for 12 (or more) months?

Because if that's the case, the entire account could have been deleted due to inactivity.

You would have received an email about this beforehand, though, so I'd suggest you take a look at your emails, to see if you can find one that talks about something like this.