Trying to organize files by date created - naming convention method not working?

Question

In an effort to sort a folder that contains all of the photos I took on my phone in 2021 by date created (so I just want them displayed in chronological order) I tried the suggestion of using a naming convention that's supposed to insert the 'date captured' from the metadata into the filename (screenshot attached). But it doesn't seem to be working? I'm hitting 'set' then getting a dialogue at the bottom of the screen that says 'setting naming convention' for a few minutes but then... nothing happens, no filenames change.

So frustrating- I've spent years trying to figure out how to simply organize my files... by date? Isn't that part of what I'm paying for from a file storage service? Renaming all of my files is a workaround, and even THAT doesn't actually work. Why is this such an issue?

oceanside22 · Answer

this has happened to my like 5 times. Just when I thought I found a way to organize photos the way I need it (wich is the simplest way by the way) just when I thought I succeeded something else fails. See photo attached . Now it turns out the “automation” for naming files doesn’t work for videos LOL what am I supposed to do now, have all my photos in order and make a different folder for videos??? Man, dropbox is a joke.

sunnie1ee · Answer

Yeah I just don’t get it. Why can’t anyone at Dropbox explain to us why a ‘sort by date created’ option isn’t readily available?

oceanside22 · Answer

having this issue also. I’m new to using dropbox for my photos. Seems like a pretty standard thing to do, sort photos by date taken, not only standard but the most common think in the world. I’ve spend 2 days trying work arounds and reading, ONLY TO BE ABLE TO SORT MY PHOTOS BY THE DATE THEY WERE TAKEN.

Unbelievable. I was excited to finally consolidate all my photos in one place and pay for the storage capacity, but this messing around with files names and “automated formulas” to change names, only makes me scare of losing or ruining the dates of all my photos.