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How can I get conflicted copies of shared file when only 1 person is accessing?

hmd1957

My son and I use a shared Dropbox folder to share some Excel files.

In the past we sometimes had conflicted copies because we both accessed the same file at the same time.

But the last week we are 100% sure we didn't read or write these files at the same time. Still we are getting conflicted copies once and a while.

How can this happen?

Could i happen e.g. when my son opens a file before Dopbox has synced his local copy and then writes it back after dropbox has synced his local files?

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Comments

Jay

Hi @hmd1957, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Is it possible that the file is currently open on the other machine while you're editing the file?

Are there any edits made via the Dropbox mobile app or the site itself?

This will help me to assist further!

hmd1957

On my side I had closed the file hours ago. When I opened the folder again, there was a conflict copy of the file with the name "Database 2024 (Exemplaar met conflict van John 2024-03-26).xlsx", next to the file "Database 2024.xlsx".

In between my son (John) had been working on the file on his PC.

We do not use the mobile app. We do not edit on the website.

Hubert

Jay

There isn't much information we can provide on our end, since the app itself detects that there is a conflicted file for some reason.

Are there any differences between the two files when you view them?

hmd1957

Yes, the 2 files are different.

Hannah

Hi again, @hmd1957!

There are quite a few reasons why conflicted copies might be created, like an antivirus, backup software or third party applications that monitor files, off-line editing or connection issues, etc.

The correct pattern needs to be:

Let files sync
Start application
Save files
Quit application
Repeat on different computers.

Otherwise, a workaround could be to move the file you want to edit each time to a second folder designated for "In Use" files, so both of you know when the other is editing the file.

Hopefully this will help!