I can't rename a file I duplicated on Mac OS

Glad to hear the behavior doesn’t persist, at least for now. If this resurfaces though in the future, feel free to let us know here and we can continue looking into this.

All comments

Hi @alex eben meyer, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Are you duplicating the files within the Dropbox folder, or via some other method?

Are you able to duplicate the file on the Dropbox site and rename it from there?

This will help me to assist further!

hi @Jay

i am in my dropbox folder on the mac desktop. i use cmmd-d to duplicate. at that point, the renaming ability is gone.

i am, however, able to rename the file on the dropbox site.

So, you're not able to rename the new file, or any file at all?

just the duplicated files can't be renamed.

@Jay additional note, this only seems to happen with application files. if i create a folder and duplicate it, there is no problem renmaing that file. so, it is not an issue with all files.

Could you explain exactly what happens when you attempt to rename it? Do you get an error message, or anything to show that it can't be renamed? Is it for the same type of file?

What if you move the duplicated file out of the Dropbox folder, are you able to rename it then?

when i try to rename the duplicated file, there's no option to do so. "rename" is not there. it is with other files, just not the duplicated one. i just realized that a duplicated file cannot be moved out of the dropbox folder.

further, if i do a save as, there are no problems. this only seems to effect duplicated files in the dropbox folder on macOS.

extra note!: i am on an intel machine (5k imac, 2019)

Hope you don’t mind me jump in, @alex eben meyer. You mentioned that this is only happening with application files; can you clarify what kind of files these are?

Does the issue persist, if you quit the Dropbox app and try to rename the duplicates then?

.ai, .indd, .png....etc are affected. folders are not.

update: after restarting dropbox twice, this error went away. but it does tend to resurface on occasion.

Glad to hear the behavior doesn’t persist, at least for now. If this resurfaces though in the future, feel free to let us know here and we can continue looking into this.

I have the same issue A LOT and it seems to be getting more frequent. You can not only not rename the file but you can't move it (you get the circle with slash through it) - even if you're trying to move it into another folder within the same folder. If you open the file and save as there is no problem (but what a hassle and slow if it's a photoshop file and the app is not open). The problem persists for days so it's not a "waiting for sync to finish" issue. Quitting dropbox doesn't help. Rebooting the Mac seems to fix it. Never used to have this in the old Dropbox setting... Can you please tell me how I can fix this really annoying issue. Mac 14.6.1 - Dropbox 209.4.3661

Hannah

Sorry to hear about this, @karenap.

If you simply quit the Dropbox app (without relaunching it), does the issue persist?

Also, what's the sync status when hovering over the Dropbox icon in your menu bar?

@Hannah wrote:
Sorry to hear about this, @karenap.

If you simply quit the Dropbox app (without relaunching it), does the issue persist?

Also, what's the sync status when hovering over the Dropbox icon in your menu bar?

I had to reboot my Mac as it was driving me crazy – so I will be able to answer when it happens – thanks. In the meantime – where do I find the sync status?

Walter

You should be able to check the app's status by taking a look at the Dropbox icon in your menu bar @karenap

Let us know of any updates!

ok will do - thanks for your help.

I have the same problem; 100% reproducible. Happened to the same file last week. I duplicate it, but then can't rename it or drag it to a different folder. It's like it's locked, but it's not locked. I can rename it using the Dropbox webpage, but not in macOS. Dropbox is synced.

Dropbox 209.4.3661 Sonoma 14.7 (considering upgrading to Sequoia)

Thanks for all the details, @Douglas F.5! If you reproduce this now with a different type of file, do you get the same result?

Do you get any errors when trying to rename/move it on the desktop app or nothing happens at all when taking those actions?

Welp. Yes, I was able to reproduce it on a .pdf file, as well as the original .txt file. This is a Mac so no "desktop app" just the Finder. (I already mentioned it could be renamed on the web page.) THEN I selected "make available offline", and the problem went away, and then "make on-line only" and the problem stayed away. So now it isn't reproducible any more.

But then I went to another folder, duplicated a file, and the same problem occurred. So maybe it's solvable by giving Dropbox a swift kick, but it is still occurring for existing files.

The files you see in your Finder > Dropbox folder should be connected to the Dropbox desktop app, which syncs them to your Dropbox account online.

Can you look at your menu bar and let me know if you can see a small Dropbox icon there? If you can, I’d like to know the syncing status and app version it reports.

Other than that, please try quitting - relaunching the Dropbox app (from your Finder > Applications folder) and let me know if the issue persists after that.

I already posted that Dropbox was synced, and the Dropbox version.

I had also quit and restarted the Dropbox app several times. The problem persists.

Hi @Douglas F.5, could you give us more details on exactly how you're not able to rename or move the file in the Dropbox folder?

Are you not given the option to rename it, do you get an error when doing so, or does it revert to the original name? Is this the same when dragging the file?

In case you haven't read the whole thread and until Dropbox actually fixes this bug, the only way I've found to make it normal again is to restart the computer. Such a hassle but (fingers crossed) it's fixed it for me – sometimes for weeks, sometimes for only days but it's still better than not being able to move or rename a file - such a hassle to workflow.

>> Are you not given the option to rename it, do you get an error when doing so, or does it revert to the original name? Is this the same when dragging the file?

There is no option to rename the file (which would be below "Get Info" in the file pop-up), single-clicking on the file does not put it into filename edit mode (nothing happens at all on single-click except selection, and since there is no name change there is no reversion to the original name). When dragging the file, to a sub-folder or a different folder, you get the gray "no" circle so it doesn't go anywhere. It felt to me like a volume mount/control issue, but that's hard to explain without being able to dig deeper into Dropbox.

I have updated to macOS Sequoia 15.0.1 and the problem hasn't reappeared, including doing the same process on the same files where I experienced it on macOS 14.

@Hannah So it's happening again.
The Dropbox sync status says "Your files are up to date."
If I quit Dropbox it still doesn't allow me to rename the duplicated file.
If I restart Dropbox it still doesn't allow me to rename the duplicated file.

Hey @karenap. I went through your previous posts and I see you mentioned seeing a circle with a slash when trying to move your duplicate files around. Can you send us a screenshot of what it looks like?

Are you seeing the same icon when renaming those files, or nothing happens at all in this scenario?

You can generate that visual tag yourself: go to your home folder, and drag the Library folder around and then try to drop it onto the Library folder. The Finder shows you that icon to say, "yeah not gonna happen."

No, as I said, you don't see that when you try to rename the file because you CAN'T rename the file. File>Rename in the File menu is grayed out, there is no Rename in the contextual menu, and it won't highlight, so there is no reason for the Finder to throw the "no" tag. Try it yourself: go to your home folder, and try to rename the Library folder. You can't. That's the same behavior that Dropbox is causing on some files that, unlike the Library folder, should be rename-able.

@Nancy the lashed circle disappears when trying to do a screenshot so I took a video [Removed as per Community Guidelines]
The video shows what happens when I duplicate an Illustrator file (using cmd+D) and then clicking on the name but it won't allow me to rename (the yellow circles are added by the video capture app). I also try hitting the RETURN key which should also allow me to rename but it doesn't. I then try to drag the file to my desktop and it gives me the slashed circle. Hope this helps.

Hi @karenap, thanks for the info, in order to look into this further, please could you contact the support team directly for them to investigate.