Child Item

Files in a shared folder went back to their previous versions, after I was removed from it

One of my clients shared her dropbox link with me. I started working on the shared files using my local dropbox folder on my desktop. while i had access she could check that work is getting updated on her local dropbox folder on desktop as well. But once she removed access all the files on her local dropbox folder went back to their previous versions and all the work was undone.

I am not able to solve this issue

Kindly help

Find more posts tagged with

Shared Folders

File Access

Developer

Active

New

Accepted answers

Hannah

Hi there and happy Monday!

I don't think transfer would also be a viable solution to what you're trying to do.

Perhaps you might want to consider shared folders with wildcards in your Excel formulas.

Wildcards, e.g. "%HOMEPATH%”, would let you point to a location without having to worry about different usernames in the path, if the other user has the Dropbox folder located in the default location.

You can see more info here.

All comments

Hannah

Hey @surajkjha, thanks for letting us know about this.

This does sound a bit strange. What does your client see when they go to the folder on dropbox.com?

Are the most recent versions missing from there too?

If so, can you have them check the version history for the files, to see if the updates show up there?

Keep me posted.

surajkjha

Well files are there on Dropbox.com but the main reason why we used local desktop Dropbox folder is because files were showing #ref error on Dropbox.com. So we decided to work on local desktop so that files can be linked and cell references can be made. Once the work got completed she removed access and as a result she said that all the files went back to original version on her local desktop.

As a matter of fact, i have all all files with updated version on my desktop Dropbox folder. But she hasn't.

Hannah

Thanks for the update here!

Can you confirm that you're both looking at the same folder?

Is it possible that your client sent you a shared link to the folder instead of an invitation to a shared folder?

If they just sent you a link, you'd have the options to 'download' the files or 'save to Dropbox', when you opened the link, which would create a copy of the folder in your Dropbox.

That means that any updates you would make, wouldn't appear in the account of the person that shared the link with you.

surajkjha

Yes, she shared the link to Dropbox and then gave access.
Assuming it was a shared link and not invitation, can you please mark the difference and explain how can I solve the issue so that she can have access to updated files

Megan

Hi @surajkjha, sorry to jump in here!

It's not entirely clear to me if she shared a link your way, or added you to be part of the folder.

If your client shared a link with you, that means you must have downloaded the content to your own Dropbox account, and worked on individual copies.

It's important to note that if you downloaded those copies to your account, they wouldn't sync to your client's account through the old link she provided.

You'd need to share them back to her. Now, the best way to solve this, would be for you to share the updated content back to her, from your Dropbox account.

surajkjha

Hi @Megan,
Well it happened just the way you described. But the issue is if I share files from my Dropbox account then once she downloads them on her desktop it will again have problem related to cell referencing and sheet link ( the very reason she hired me for).
Can you help me with this so that when she downloads files on her desktop they appear exactly same as they do on my desktop computer

Walter

Hey @surajkjha, sorry to jump in here, but I just wanted to clarify, are you talking about Microsoft Excel files and formulas when you say cell referencing and sheet links?

Also, are you using shared links to the files or folders you're sharing or are those files all located in the same shared folder?

Any additional information is more than welcome!

surajkjha

Hey ,
Yes, i am talking about Microsoft Excel when I say cell referencing and file links.

My client had shared a link to a folder on Dropbox. Com. I downloaded files from there and worked on local drop box folder. Fixed the issues of cell referencing.
While I had access she could also see the updates but once she removed, everything went back to normal on her local Dropbox.
Now only I have the updated files on my desktop Dropbox folder

Hannah

Thanks for the additional info here.

I think I'll agree with @Megan and say that the best way to resolve this now, is to share the folder back to your client.

You can also do it through a shared link, so she can download the updated files on her end as well.

surajkjha

Ok. I'll do that
But there is one concern. If i share the link to folder then isn't it possible that once she downloads the files #ref error will be there and again the work will be undone.

I am saying this because when my client shared the link and I downloaded the files, they had ref errors and i had to work on that.
So can you please help in resolving that

Rich

@surajkjha wrote:
But there is one concern. If i share the link to folder then isn't it possible that once she downloads the files #ref error will be there and again the work will be undone.

Yes, that's very likely to happen again but it's because of how Excel works with linked files, and not an issue with Dropbox.

When you link to another file in an Excel sheet, the full path to the linked file is used. If your Dropbox folder is in its default location, then that full path will likely include your computer username in the folder structure, such as C:\Users\surajkjha\Dropbox\somefolder\somefile.xls or similar. You then share this folder with someone and it syncs to their own Dropbox which likely won't be in the same location as yours. They open the file and Excel is still going to look in that same path for the linked file and when the file can't be found, you get the #ref errors.

The only way to use shared Office files that link to other files within Dropbox is to have the Dropbox folder on both computers be in the exact same location, such as C:\Dropbox. That way the full path to a linked file is the same for both users. Though keep in mind that this still does prevent it entirely. Shared folders can be moved and renamed by any member without affecting the folder for others, and doing so would break any file links.

surajkjha

Yes I am also afraid of similar situation and same path and same location is not a feasible option.
If we use file transfer of Dropbox, then is it possible?

Hannah

Hi there and happy Monday!

I don't think transfer would also be a viable solution to what you're trying to do.

Perhaps you might want to consider shared folders with wildcards in your Excel formulas.

You can see more info here.