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Unable to create a directory for iCloud Photos. Restarting your computer might... (Error 5)

I've search high and low for a solution to this error.

I had given up after over a year of trying to resolve it, on Windows 10. I've pickup up a new PC on Windows 11 and tried to install the latest version from the Windows Store and low and behold, this issue has come up again!

I've been through every single community post here, and in the Apple Communities. I'm happy to report that I've uncovered the cause, but can't find a solution.

When I install iCloud for Windows on a clean Windows 11 machine, the app places iCloud Photos and iCloud drive at;

c:\users\your_profile\Pictures\iCloud Photos

and if you have Microsoft OneDrive, it gives a message that says something to the effect that OneDrive is the users home directory, so the iCloud folder is actually placed in the user's root folder;

c:\users\your_profile\iCloud Photos

...but when I install on a machine that has DROPBOX, AND has the user's Pictures folder inside DropBox, the folders are placed at;

c:\users\your_profile\Dropbox\Pictures\iCloud Photos

BAM, the error occurs!

However, if DropBox is not installed, no problem. And if, Dropbox is installed and the user's Pictures folder is not inside Dropbox, no problem. As soon as the user has their Pictures folder inside Dropbox, then no love and the error results.

So iCloud for Windows is testing for the presence of a user's home folder being inside Microsoft One Drive and correctly handling that use case, but it does not do the same test for Dropbox and also correctly handle that use case.

It may even be that a user's home folder inside any cloud solution is a problem, but since this app is downloaded through the Microsoft store, they tested it for OneDrive and made it work only with that solution! That's messed up!

Anyone have ideas on how to solve this issue? I'd like to also have DropBox engineering work with Apple and Microsoft to perform the same kind of installation handling that the app does when it finds OneDrive! The solution is to simply have iCloud for Windows test for Dropbox and if Pictures is found inside DropBox, handle it the same way it does with OneDrive, just place the iCloud Photos folder in the User's profile root folder!

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Rich

@Doug R.1 wrote:
Anyone have ideas on how to solve this issue?

The first thing I'd say is never have more than one sync service syncing files in the same directory structure. That's always been a problem as the different services try to compete with each other over access to the files. There have been plenty of posts describing problems when the main folder for one sync service is in the folder structure for another, causing one or both to not sync properly.

If you have to run more than one sync service, don't allow any of them (or only allow one) to take over the folders in your user profile, such as Documents, Pictures, etc. Dropbox doesn't do that by default, but if you enable the backup feature, it moves Documents, Downloads, etc. into the Dropbox folder so they can sync. OneDrive's backup does the same thing, and neither one of them will operate correctly, if at all, if the other has taken over the location for those folders. Don't enable the Backup feature in Dropbox and the core folders remain in the user's profile, not in the Dropbox folder.

Beyond that I'd say that the error you're seeing is from iCloud, so it's really on Apple to work on detecting the presence of Dropbox as it does with OneDrive. There's not really anything Dropbox can do about that.

Doug R.1

I only have one cloud service, ...Dropbox.

But all my iPhone photos are in iCloud, not Dropbox. So it is certainly a reasonable expectation to have iCloud for Windows installed on a PC and that has NOTHING to do with OneDrive or Google Drive, or any other cloud solution... My troubleshooting enabled my to realize what the issue is and its 100% repeatable. Customers who use OneDrive don't have a problem, so maybe I should leave Dropbox and go to OneDrive. I'm sure that's not what the CRO at Dropbox would want to hear...

And I completly agree that this is absolutely on Apple to fix, but of course I'd like to have the fine engineering team at Dropbox help solved this issue, work with Apple to update their iCloud for Windows product to detect and recognize the presence of Dropbox cloud services just like it does with Microsoft's OneDrive.

That is the solution to this issue.

IMHO, its incumbent upon Dropbox to recognize the issue exists for it's customers even if it isn't caused by DropBox, and get engaged with it's partners to solve it. Lets also recognize that Dropbox's decision to stop supporting Symlinks (external) is a contributing factor. Dropbox backup will backup picture and video folders, but it will not allow the sync of those folders across a customer's devices...

So yeah, this is an ongoing issue that need to be addressed. There is no solution as it stands now, and I'd love for Dropbox to advocate a fix for it's customers. There is certainly a lot of community support for this issue as it's a very common error for Dropbox customers with iPhones.

tankdao

I've got the same problem, on Windows 10 or Windows 11 - doesn't matter. Did you find a way to fix this or found a work around?

Doug R.1

Nope! This is an ongoing issue and I’ve got no way to raise awareness and get these massive companies to solve it. Dropbox is the small time little guy compared to Apple and Microsoft. So the only solution is to not place your Pictures folder inside Dropbox.

tankdao

Thank you. This is what I did, but this is indeed annoying..

klepp0906

just +1'ing

trying to find a solution myself. the first go-round I did some kind of dance. placed pictures in onedrive, installed icloud which it detected and placed in icloud photos in users folder. great!

proceeded to move pictures to dropbox.

however after an update icloud photos no longer works.

gonna have to try that entire dance again and hope for the best.

Doug R.1

Don't waste your time, there is no fix! Dropbox has to handle this with Microsoft, or fix their client software which I don't see happening, ever.

jmedlock

My "fix" for this long standing issue, which I only discovered because I realized one of my PC's didn't have this problem -- is to completely uninstall Dropbox from the PC , delete all traces of it from the registry, and delete the Dropbox folder itself, uninstall iCloud, then reinstall iCloud first, THEN Dropbox. This solution sucks, but it seems to have fixed it on the one Windows 11 PC I performed it on. I can't do it on my other two, because deleting and resyncing a 2.5 TB dropbox is a traumatic experience. 😕

For the record, I've never had my Windows Pictures folder inside Dropbox. I don't use Camera Uploads / auto-upload. I also have OneDrive and Google Drive on the same machines (this is my punishment for living in a mixed-platform household).

Doug R.1

@jmedlock wrote:
My "fix" for this long standing issue, which I only discovered because I realized one of my PC's didn't have this problem -- is to completely uninstall Dropbox from the PC , delete all traces of it from the registry, and delete the Dropbox folder itself, uninstall iCloud, then reinstall iCloud first, THEN Dropbox. This solution sucks, but it seems to have fixed it on the one Windows 11 PC I performed it on. I can't do it on my other two, because deleting and resyncing a 2.5 TB dropbox is a traumatic experience. 😕

For the record, I've never had my Windows Pictures folder inside Dropbox. I don't use Camera Uploads / auto-upload. I also have OneDrive and Google Drive on the same machines (this is my punishment for living in a mixed-platform household).

"For the record, I've never had my Windows Pictures folder inside Dropbox. I don't use Camera Uploads / auto-upload. "

and this is the exact reason that your solution isn't a solution. The issue remains unresolved and will be so until Dropbox and Apple work together on the answer. Only Microsoft recognizes the location of the Pictures folder and handles the solution gracefully with iCloud for Windows.

ShirleeD

I figured out how to fix mine! The photos are no longer backing up to Dropbox, but I don't need the photos in two places. I went into Dropbox settings and told it to stop backing up Pictures and Videos. Voila! Problem solved.

mrvalle

Did the same.

Until they fix the software, I've stopped the backup of Photos and Videos. At least now i got my photos from icloud. Now I have to find a way to save pictures from others sourcer directly in dropbox.

dpecora

The original thread is here and is now locked.

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Create-upload-and-share/Unable-to-create-a-directory-for-iCloud-Photos-Restarting-your/td-p/656087

The basic problem that if you have Dropbox installed on Windows 10/11, and you have the Windows Pictures junction pointing to a directory under your Dropbox installation, and you then install iCloud Photos, iCloud will then attempt to create its folders in the wrong place, resulting in a recurring "Unable to create directory" error message from iCloud. I am posting my workaround for anyone else who ran into this.

It appears that iCloud Photos uses the Windows Pictures junction as its root folder for photos on installation. So the basic idea is to redirect the junction temporarily to another location. The steps follow.

1. Uninstall iCloud.

2. Disable Dropbox syncing.

3. In Windows Explorer, in the left pane, right-click on Pictures, select Properties, and in the dialog box that comes up, go to the Location tab. Make a note of the folder location.

4. Change the folder to a place that makes sense for picture storage and is outside your Dropbox location. In my case, the folder was initially set to C:\Users\<username>\Dropbox\Photos and I changed this to C:\Users\<username>\Pictures. It will ask you if you want to relocate your files to the new directory; don't do this.

5. Reinstall iCloud enabling the Photos option, and it will create its folders under the folder you just specified.

6. Restore the former location of the Pictures junction by reverting the edit you performed in steps 3 and 4 above. Again, it will ask you if you want to relocate your files, and again you should not do this.

7. Re-enable Dropbox syncing.

Going forward iCloud and Dropbox will then each sync to their respective directories.