Why do some folders in Dropbox.com show a sharing icon when the folder is not shared? I am refering to the sharing icon visible on dropbox.com not on the computer version. See the screenshot.
Hi @JOfE,
🤔 Hm... That's really strange. Is there any chance you have received that directory by somebody as a shared folder and after that the owner has got out of share without transfer ownership to you? 🧐 In such a case you would been the only person referring particular directory without being owner, so it's shared still, but you are already the only referring to. 🤷
This is the only I can think of.
I'm stumped also. I have many folders like this in my dropbox account. I have never shared them. I am not sharing them now. These appear on dropbox.com so I can't assume this is a problem with Apple or Windows.
I'm not a programmer for a billion dollar tech company but I think the icon should read 'blank' when I folder is not shared- whether I was the original owner of the folder or not.
@JOfE wrote: ... I have never shared them. ...
... I have never shared them. ...
Are you sure you "have never shared them"? 🧐 🙂 I'm sure in just opposite.
At some moment you have shared the folders, in focus, to some people. Later the share recipient(s) remove their-self from the sharing. Finally as a result (most probably a bug) the folder(s) remain "shared" while they are NOT actually. 🤷 That's it.
It could be easily reproduced:
The weird thing here is you cannot unshare a folder non shared actually, but still labeled as a such. In my reproductions is a difference. Such a folder appear everywhere as a shared, not just on Dropbox site, like in your case. On my mobile, for example:
On mobile I can cancel sharing (ellipsis menu). It's really strange why the same can't be done on the Dropbox web site. 🤷
The only other workaround, I can think of, is following the steps (folder name "Test" is used as an example) below:
Now, there is a same folder "Test" without any "share" label. 😉 If you are disturbed by the "labeling", can repeat the same for all incorrectly labeled folders. The share status get removed only when you unshare file/folder yourself, not by other parties (the actual bug). You can wait for the bug be fixed, but I wont encourage you cause Dropbox will ignore it (I'm pretty sure). The choice is yours.
Hope this helps to some extent.
One thing to just check @JOfE is that you've not accidentally shared them with yourself.... when you go to www.dropbox.com/home and find the folder that will tell you how many are in the share and let you remove things etc.
One thing to note is that if you stop a folder being shared you lose all file version history of it - so if you remove it even if its only shared to you it will start 'from scratch'.
@Mark, those folders aren't listed in Shared!
I know @Здравко
But I've also found examples on mine of folders that are not - hence why I said to go the other way 🙂
I recreated the problem also. Its seems to be a very fundamental (albeit cosmetic) bug in dropbox's own website. You would think dropbox would be more conscientious about so simple a thing.
The problem is that my list of shared folders in the Admin Controls is full of shared folders that are not truly shared. It as hard to maintain what is shared and not in my business account.
I do. So strange. There was an "unshare folder" option on the bottom left. It unshared the folder (from no one) and the icon returned to blank.
@Daphneyou just saved me a LOT of time! Thank you!!
I actually think these folders were originally created in a TEAM folder and then at later date moved out to a private folder.
This 'bug' creates a few problems for a business team moving shared files in this way.
We are literally going through thousands of folders and finding hundreds of 'shared' folders like this in our account. We are able to find these problem folders only by syncing the entire business account to a drive. We can pinpoint the problem folders only by their larger than normal file size. Some are buried deep in video file bundles.
A few months ago we notice that some of our dropbox files were not showing ZERO file numbers. We created a ticket with Dropbox tech support to address this issue. It has been 2 months of back and forth and no solution.
Your insight @Daphne that the folders are somehow 'shared' and showing a shared icon, I believe, is the key to that problem. We notice that 'unsharing' an unshared folder resulted in the file size being to reset to zero. So good for you @Daphne. You solved a problem the techs could not.
I also noticed you can "unshare" any individual file in Dropbox in the way you described (Share, top-right gear icon, bottom left "unshare") ad Infinitum.
None of us here are impressed by this bug in dropbox and the work it has created for us.
We are also finding files that show a 'shared icon' but are apparently shared with no one.
Happily, your fix @Daphne works on these stranded folders also.
Thank you for the tip as to where we can find all our shared folders. As a business account, this will take some time.
It is ticket number #11802005. It was created 2 months ago with messages back and forth with absolutely no progress. I had not received a reply on the ticket for the last 6 days. Yesterday I copied this thread to the ticket. No response.
I am a member of @John's business account. I remember that these folders were team folders. Problems arose when we moved files out of teams folders to archive them. This is my guess about where these sharing issues came form.
We have to unshared these folders one by one. I feel in am working with cloud sharing 101. A simple features like being able to 'unshare' multiple folders would be nice. Or removing 'unshare' option from files that are not shared would be something I'd have removed day one. Attention to details Dropbox! : )
@AmyTYM Get back to work 😉
I have the same problem and I did not find any unshare folder option
Hey @danielpassos, have you checked the steps to unshare a folder here?
Yes, I did. My folder is not shared and I have no other folder inside. I don't see the Unshare folder option
Can you send us a screenshot of what you see when you click on the "share" icon, Daniel?
Just make sure to hide any personal info, like email addresses.
Share
Setting Icon on Share screen
App Version (Mac OS)
Thanks for the screenshots, @danielpassos!
Just to clarify, is this folder located within another folder perhaps? If yes, have you made sure the parent folder doesn’t have the same folder icon/isn’t shared?
Still having the same problem. My folder is not shared, but still the icon shows its shared.
I dont have the "unshare folder" button in the folder configuration.
This were a shared folders in the past, but when I stopped sharing the icon didnt change.
Its quite unpleasant to manage folders like this. I can not tell which folder is shared or not. I would like to have better control over my files.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention, @McFly84.
Can you send over a screenshot of the shared folder settings, where the “Unshare” button should be located?
Is the folder you mention located within another folder or does it contain any subfolders that could also be shared?
Ive opted for other solution. Ive moved everything to an unshared folder.
The shared folder remains in my account, without any file, and can not unshare it.
If I delete it, its just removed from my dropbox root, but when I go to Dropbox website, in the "Shared" tab the folder is still there with a button saying "join folder" or similar.
