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Windows 11 won't let me open Dropbox documents that are on my hard drive (0x80070780 error)

Recently bought a new Dell xps with Windows 11. I can open all Dropbox documents when going through the website but get and error message 0x80070780 when I try to open Dropbox documents that are on my hard drive. That error message is "the file cannot be accessed by the system". The Windows community says that it could be due to corrupted windows files but I ran all of the DISM diagnostics and found no corruption. It said that it could also be due to not having administrator powers but I confirmed that I am the administrator and logged into that function. I can access the files through the Dropbox app on my phone and tablet. What can I do to be able to access the Dropbox files located on my hard drive?

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Walter

Hi there @dplam - sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

Can you please send us a screenshot of the exact error you're getting so that we can have a visual too?

Also, are those files locally available on your computer or online only? what is the desktop app's exact status and version as shown in your task bar?

Let us know more and we'll take it from there.

dplam

I have now uninstalled and then reinstalled Dropbox on my desktop. I now have full access to all files. However, I did this a couple of weeks ago and over time I stopped having access to some files.

Nancy

Glad to hear you can access your files again, @dplam! If the issue resurfaces though, don’t hesitate to give us a nudge and we can investigate this further.

dplam

Again, I cannot access Dropbox files via the app on my new Dell XPS running Windows 11. I have rebooted several times but to no avail. To review, I got a new desktop Dell XPS a few months ago and installed the Dropbox app on it and could access all files/folders. Over time, I began to lose access via the app to files/folders. I can access everything if I go through the Dropbox website or via my phone and tablet apps. I uninstalled the Dropbox app on my desktop Dell XPS and reinstalled and could access all files/folders. Now a week or so later, I again cannot access the Dropbox files/folders via the desktop app. What gives? is there some setting that I need to change? or is it Win11 that's the problem? or????

Nancy

Sorry to hear the issue’s back, @dplam. Out of curiosity, if you download a couple of files from your Dropbox account online and save them to a different directory on your computer, are you able to open them?

I’d also like to know the current syncing status and app version of your Dropbox app.

Finally, can you send a screenshot of the error you’re getting, as well as one more of the files you can’t open in your Dropbox folder?

dplam

I downloaded a pdf, word doc and excel doc from the dropbox website and saved them to my desktop. I can open them. I will attempt to attach them to this reply.

I have screenshots of the error messages I get when opening each of those document types. I will attempt to attach them.

Screenshot 2024-06-27 dropbox version.png Screenshot 2024-06-27 opening a pdf doc via Dropbox app on desktop running Win11.png

Thanks for you help.

[shared links removed per Community Guidelines]

Nancy

Thanks, @dplam! I’ve removed your shared links from the forum, so that your files wouldn’t be accessible. The screenshots are quite helpful, though.

It may be a long shot, but there’s something else I’d like us to check. The files you’re having trouble with, are they saved within long filepaths (that consist of more than 255 characters)?

As an example, if you had a test.txt file in your Dropbox that had the following path:

C:\Users\YourName\My Documents\Dropbox\test.txt

This file would have a path that is 47 characters long.

If this could be the case, I want you to move one of the files that currently gives you an error to the root Dropbox directory and let me know if the issue persists. The issue you're experiencing may be due to a limitation of the applications that you're using to open or save the files in question.

dplam

None of the files sent to you have a file path of 255 characters. I've got some around 70 or 90 but none approaching 255. FYI. I now cannot open any files via the Dropbox app on my desktop. It seems to start with a few files but over time blocks me from opening any of them.

Walter

Hey @dplam - does renaming or moving them out of your Dropbox folder and back in helps improve matters at all?

dplam

I have renamed and moved to my desktop. I can open them and have been able to do so since saving them to desktop several weeks ago.

I also renamed several files and saved them in a new folder within Dropbox several weeks ago. I continue to be able to open those files.

Almost all other files in Dropbox are not accessible to me via the Dropbox app but they are available through the Dropbox website.

What could possibly be the issue?

Walter

There must be some sort of permission or third party issue on the OS profile you're working on at the moment @dplam

Can you try creating a new OS profile and installing the desktop app there?

Let me know if you still get the same error.

fender7802

for anyone having problems with windows 11 make sure you right click the Dropbox icon within windows explorer and choose "Make available offline"

Dropbox fix.png

dplam

Thanks but when I right click on the Dropbox icon in windows explorer, I don't get that option. The pop out menu does not show a Dropbox icon.

Mark

@dplam wrote:
Thanks but when I right click on the Dropbox icon in windows explorer, I don't get that option. The pop out menu does not show a Dropbox icon.

Have you checked Drobox is running on your machine? May be worth a redownload and install: www.dropbox.com/downloading

schnugee

Hi, I'm receiving the same exact error on Win 10 PC. My use case is another user had DropBox, and had >90 GB of files in their C:\users\dropbox folder. File thumbnails show up with an X in the lower left hand corner. I have reset NTFS permissions to everyone\full control, disabled inheritance, applied to sub-folders. I uninstalled and reinstalled DropBox desktop App, still no access. I'm an IT Pro with a decade plus of experience, so can provide additional technical details if necessary.

Jay

Hi @schnugee, is this a grey X you're seeing as the sync icon? Do you have OneDrive currently installed and running on your machine?

schnugee

Thank you for the response Jay. I see no indications from the Registry that OneDrive was enabled, or used by this user.

Jay

Are the files marked as available offline, or online-only?

schnugee

Unfortunately, I don't have the previous user's credentials to log into their profile, or DropBox account. I am the local administrator of the machine, and have full NTFS permissions to the directory.

Jay

Without being able to access the profile, it wouldn't be possible to troubleshoot any further, since we need to know if the Dropbox desktop application was syncing normally, or if there any other steps we could try from there.

dplam

I have uninstalled Dropbox app and then rebooted. Then installed Dropbox app as administrator. I have access to all files for a while but by the end of the day, I can no longer access any dropbox files that were created before the date that I set up my new desktop that the app is on.

I then uninstalled dropbox app, rebooted, made administrator inactive and reinstalled dropbox app. Same thing, works for a while but by the end of the day I cannot access the files in dropbox app that were created before I bought/setup this new laptop.

I do not have a dropbox icon in my taskbar that shows whether or not it is syncing. It appears that One Drive is active and syncs, though. Could Dropbox and One Drive be conflicting with each other?

Jay

It's interesting that you mentioned that you have access to every single file, but then later on during the day, you can't access them.

Since you said that you don't see the Dropbox icon in the taskbar, do you mean the system tray near the clock? Is it possible that the app is forced to close during the day?

OneDrive could be conflicting with the files, if it's somehow trying to sync files already in the Dropbox folder. You'd need to check its settings to see where it's trying to access and sync files.