Corrupted Word Documents

No worries, @GillW!

Looking forward to hearing back from you.

All comments

Mark

Dropbox cannot alter files at all - it simply hasnt got the capability or capacity to do so.

You've not said which files are not opening BUT my guess is the ones starting 6.2 etc.? If you notice the .pdf (or .doc/docx) is missing from the end of the file name, so, the computer doesnt know how to open them. Simply rename them with whatever you used to make them and they should be and they'll almost certainly open.

You are a Star, Mark Super User ll - thank you! That worked.

My second query underneath about the PDFs - any input on this, please?

Many thanks indeed.

Gill

Hey @GillW, if possible, could you send us a screenshot of the preview with the padlock that you mention?

Did you send the files via a shared link, or as individual shared files?

Hi Lusil

Thanks for your reply.
I can access my PDFs with no problem. I've sent the share link to someone else who can also open it without a problem.

Its my college tutor who is saying that it's a tiny padlocked box which does open, but with a document so small you can't read it! I will email him and ask him to send me a screen shot - he does take a while to respond however.

Note that he is one of the people who has access to my folders and files (TM on the screen shot).

I will revert - thanks so much.

Gill

Take as much time as you need, @GillW.

I'll leave this thread open, so whenever you have more info for us, just give us a nudge.

Cheers!

Thank you! I note you are also asking re the shared link. My daughter can open the doc as a shared link. My tutor is trying to open it directly through his account to mine, as it is a shared folder.

Sounds as if I know what I'm talking about, ha ha!

G:-)

It definitely helps, the more info we have, the better!

Since we're on the topic, could you ask your tutor if they are opening the file from the website or through the desktop app?

Yes I will, Lusil - he's not very good at getting back to us so if I don't hear I'll be seeing him on Wednesday for my lesson and I'll make sure he gives me an answer then! Thank you!

No worries, @GillW!

Looking forward to hearing back from you.

Hi Lusil

I have just heard back from my tutor - apparently, he can now open the PDFs (not having done anything to solve the problem!) So huge thanks for your patience on this - you've been great.

Very best

Gill

No problem, @GillW, all's well that ends well.

If anything else comes up, you know where to find us.

In the meantime, I hope you have a lovely week ahead of you!

Thank you Lusil, you've been GREAT! 🙂

andrepaixao

I had the same problem after cancelling my 2TB subscription and moving all folders to a new one. Loads of corrupted files. This is a tragedy for me.

andrepaixao

Hi Mark, hope you can help with a similar case. I had to temporarily downgrade my 2TB Dropbox subscription plan and moved all my Dropbox folders to a new one synced with a different and cheaper cloud service (Google Drive). After that, hundreds of, mostly pdf, files became corrupted. That is almost a tragedy for me and my company and i'm desperately looking forward to resolve this situation . Could anyone helm with that? Cheers

Here's a print of the message i got every time i try to open a pdf file

Screen Shot 2021-06-23 at 13.40.42.png

Megan

Hey @andrepaixao, thanks for posting to our community!

Based on your info, it sounds like you have chosen to sync your files online-only, right?

Also, did you copy the Dropbox folders, or drag and drop them to their new path?

Let me know.

I have a similar problem. I have Word documents in Dropbox on my desktop that when I attempt to open them, I receive this message:

Word was unable to read this document. It may be corrupt. Try one or more of the following: Open and Repair the file. Open the file with the Text Recovery converter.

I can't figure out how to repair them. The same files on my phone in Dropbox are fine. Help, please!

Megan

Hey @holpolshuf, let's jump right in!

If you try to use these steps, in order to download the files from your Dropbox account online to your device and then preview them there, do they preview like they normally would?

Also, what are the syncing icons that you see next to these files when you check them within your Dropbox folder?

Feel free to send any screenshots our way.

Keep me posted, and we'll take it from there!

When I download the file, the preview is fine and I am able to open and save it to my Dropbox folder on my desktop. The corrupted Word and PDF documents all have x's in the lower left hand corner of the document in the folder. Do I just need to download all of the corrupt documents again? And why did that happen in the first place?

Megan

Hey @holpolshuf, do you use any other cloud services along with Dropbox?

This is a Windows icon and not a Dropbox icon. Keep in mind that while in File Explorer, a gray “X” icon can appear in a file or folder in your Dropbox folder sometimes.

It indicates that your file or folder may not be syncing with Dropbox.

To fix this, please try the steps in this article about fixing syncing issues in Dropbox. If that doesn’t fix it, you can also contact Microsoft support.

I sometimes use Google Drive, but none of the corrupted files are in Drive or came from Drive. There were no disk issues, so moving on to attempt all the other fixes.

jhoney12

Yay! Even though the issue was for someone else, we benefited from the solution as well. Thanks to everyone for the help!

Chloemaryland

I have Word documents in Dropbox on my desktop that when I attempt to open them, I receive this message:

Word was unable to read this document. It may be corrupt. Try one or more of the following: Open and Repair the file. Open the file with the Text Recovery converter.

I can't figure out how to repair them. The same files on my phone in Dropbox are fine. Help, please!