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Uploads skipped because ".docx format is not supported"?

This issue – files not uploading because 'the format is not supported' – just started today. I made a new folder containing a large number of MP3 files, plus some MS Word documents that provide indexes & explanations. All the files already exist elsewhere in my Dropbox, but I've copied some of them to a new subfolder so that I can share it with a handful of people.

The MP3s uploaded fine, but the MS Word format has suddenly gone out of fashion.

I've seen recent posts about people having issues with Office files created via Google Docs, or possibly because they don't have Office subscriptions. Just to clarify that the files were created using the Word app on my Mac, not in Google Docs, and that I have an active subscription to Office 365.

Anyone have clues as to what's happening?

Thanks!

Screenshot 2024-03-11 at 23.43.44.png

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Megan

Hey @iKit, let's jump right into this!

Just to make sure we're on the same page here: did you receive this message upon copying these .docx files, that they already exist within your Dropbox account?

Have you tried a different browser, by any chance?

Let me know more, and we'll take it from there!

iKit

Thanks for the reply.

No, I didn't get the message whilst copying the files, it was whilst I was uploading them. I downloaded them from Dropbox to my desktop first, because they were scattered across different locations and I wanted to make sure I'd assembled all the ones I needed to share.

Then I went to Dropbox online, made a new folder, and uploaded my files to it – from the desktop, not 'sideways' via the Dropbox website, or from the Dropbox location on my Mac. Nearly all of them uploaded normally, it was only the Word documents that were deemed unacceptable.

Given that I did it this way around, it's hard to see how a different browser would affect things?

It's 1:10am here now, so if you need further info, I'll send it tomorrow. Thanks again.

Megan

Thanks for the fast response @iKit!

I believed you were using the website, hence the different browser question.

I'm not entirely sure if you used the desktop app, because you mentioned that you didn't use the "Dropbox location on your Mac" and that you went online, and uploaded your content.

Would you mind clarifying for me, please?

iKit

I clicked the Dropbox icon in the task bar, and chose the option to go to Dropbox.com.

Once on the website, I made and named a new folder using 'Create Folder'. I was then presented with the zone where you can drop files for upload, and I dropped three new subfolders on it, to go inside this new folder. Most of the contents arrived there without difficulty, just not the Word documents.

(To be honest, I've no idea why I did it this way. I usually just add any new folders to the Dropbox location on my Mac, as it's much less clunky to create and reorganise stuff there than it is to do so on the website. But it's the middle of the night and I'm tired, and for some reason I chose the clunky method!)

Now I really do have to sleep...

Nancy

Hey @iKit! Hope you’re doing great.

I see that the documents which can’t be uploaded have some symbols in front of their filename (~ $ .). Can you please try to rename couple of these files locally, while removing these symbols, and let me know if they still won’t upload?

When using a web browser, there are different parameters that may affect the functionality of a feature, so also using a different browser will help us understand if this could be a browser-related issue or if there’s something else going on here.

Let me know how this goes!

iKit

Thanks again for the reply.

I've checked this morning, and the .docx files have uploaded now. The puzzling thing is that they definitely don't exist anywhere with those symbols in the filenames – I've looked in the file tree and done a search of my laptop. Weird, but never mind.

Now there's a different issue, which has reappeared after being fixed a number of years ago. A lot of my files are set to be stored on my local drive, partly because I'm part of the support team for elderly relatives who don't have home broadband and live in rural areas with unreliable or no mobile signal. I have information about their medication and treatment history on my computer, and need to be able to access it if anything happens. The available offline setting is selected:

Screenshot 2024-03-12 at 11.27.17.jpg

and new files I uploaded last night are included in the list for settings in Preferences/Selective Sync:

Screenshot 2024-03-12 at 11.28.11.png

and yet when I check them on my local drive, they need to be downloaded manually:

Screenshot 2024-03-12 at 11.44.06.png

This has been applied since last night to ALL my files, including the important medical ones.

It caused a worrying issue last time, when a locum doctor treating my 88-year-old aunt needed to whether she was on a particular medication before he could prescribe another. My aunt couldn't remember and none of us could find out; the doctor couldn't get a signal to access the surgery records, and all the data in my Dropbox had been removed from my laptop during the previous night. In this case it wasn't an emergency situation, but you can see how difficult it could have been. I really need to be sure files aren't removed while I'm not looking.

The Dropbox support agent didn't find out what caused it last time, and I don't know why it's started again. I haven't changed any of my preferences, but a couple of days ago I noticed that two newly created documents had unexpectedly been made online-only. At that point, everything else was fine; this morning everything has been removed, and needs to be downloaded again by the laborious process of clicking the cloud symbol next to each folder. I can't do it globally, because they're already set to be available offline.

Any ideas? Macs have a setting called Optimise Storage that allows users only to keep recently created/edited files locally, and I've checked that this hasn't been applied. I can't think of anything else, though. There's substantially more free space on my hard drive than there was when I looked last week, so the files have been removed.

Thanks!

- Kitty

Walter

Hey @iKit - sorry to jump in here, but could you clarify the location of your Dropbox folder as per the sync tab in the app's preferences?

If you find that your Dropbox folder is under ~/Library/CloudStorage it means that you're on the File Provider version of the Dropbox desktop app for Mac OS.

In that case, please note that files or folders not previously set to Make available offline may be automatically set to online-only when your hard drive is low on disk space.

This is part of the expected changes with the File Provider version of the desktop app for Mac OS.

Let us know if this helps!

iKit

Yes, my Dropbox is in that location in the library. There's been no other choice since a particularly irritating Mac OS update a couple of years ago.

It seems unlikely to be a case of space shortage, though. When Dropbox decided to remove all the files, there would have been over 120GB of free space on the hard drive. The files only take up a small fraction of that.

To put it a different way, with all the files present on the Mac's hard drive, the remaining free space is about 28% of the total capacity. By removing them, there is about 32% capacity remaining.

Would that equation be enough to trigger a low capacity warning and prompt Dropbox to remove the whole lot? It seems extreme, since computers function perfectly well with the hard drive at that capacity.

If you think this is the problem, is there any way to privilege certain folders for preservation? What's worrying me is that it only deleted the documents I need permanent access to – it left 65GB of music files intact. I choose to have offline access to these because I work in spaces without internet access, but they're not actually critical to anyone's health and wellbeing.

Thank you.

- Kitty

Megan

Hey there, Kitty!

Based on the percentage you mentioned, it sounds highly possible that the app decided to automatically offload some items.

What you can do on your end, is probably change your music files to online-only, in order to free-up some hard drive space, and then change the status of any medical files, that you need to have available offline at all times.

iKit

Thanks for that. I'll give it some thought, because quite obviously I couldn't keep the files I need for work offline on a long term basis – I work in places without internet access. I may need to move provider instead.

It's never been a problem before, and if it's deliberately been set up like that, it's disappointing. Why would anyone want to have to start not using some of their disk capacity, when previously they could?

Thanks again, though.

- Kitty

Megan

I definitely see where you're coming from! Your feedback regarding our Dropbox desktop application has been very valuable and I will endeavor to make sure your voice is heard.

Trust to know that I'll forward your feedback to the appropriate areas so we can continue to improve.

In any case, if you need to ask a question, or have any issues with the app or anything else Dropbox-related, just give us a shout!