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Why are some folders being created in the wrong location, and then not moving afterwards on Windows?

I decided to organize some photos within camera uploads into folders.

The folders ended up being created within a specific camera uploads subfolder, I don't know how/why.

When I create a test folder under camera uploads, it is created under that same camera uploads subfolder when I look at it through the webpage but in my windows file finder underneath /desktop/dropbox it shows it under the folder, not under the subfolder.

I attempted to move one of my 2 week old, unshared folders with photos in it out of the subfolder into the camera uploads folder, Dropbox confirmed doing that, but looking on the webpage nothing has changed, and the 2 week old folder remains under the subfolder.

I attempted the same thing, with a new (empty) folder, and it was entirely removed from the file structure on the webpage (thus, destroyed, not moved?), while my windows file structure shows it having been moved.

Also, weirdly, between Sep 7 when I did my file sorting binge and when I next looked at camera uploads, I discovered that the 6 months of uploads roughly prior to that had all been moved to this same, imperialistic subfolder that seems intent on taking over other folders and photos.

My link to Dropbox in my apps and startup menus also no longer works, but that's been true for at least months.

Maybe this has something to do with Dropbox having a local copy of camera uploads on my hard drive, that I attempted months ago to stop having on my hard drive because of space constraints?

Ideally I would like to be able to create and move subfolders where I want them, and be able to find them in the same place whether I log in to the website or go through windows, and have them actually be on Dropbox's servers, where I pay for space, than on my own hard drive. Can someone help me see what I'm doing wrong?

I run Windows 10 on my desktop, have an Android phone, and generally use Google Chrome for internet.

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Jay

Hi @Reluctant, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

In order to understand the folder structure you're seeing, could you attach screenshots showing them as they appear on Explorer, the Dropbox site, and on the mobile app as well just in case?

Also, do you see any events showing the folder being added or moved?

This will help me to assist further!

All comments

Jay

Hi @Reluctant, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

In order to understand the folder structure you're seeing, could you attach screenshots showing them as they appear on Explorer, the Dropbox site, and on the mobile app as well just in case?

Also, do you see any events showing the folder being added or moved?

This will help me to assist further!

Reluctant

Jay, thank you for your prompt reply! Either something magical happened, or I was mistaking the folder suggestions for the folders, or both, and now the folders can be moved and created where I want them.

Jay

Thanks for the update. I'm happy to hear that everything is working now.

Feel free to ask us again if you have any questions in the future!

Reluctant

Another possible route of failure for me, in addition to seeing the suggested files as if they were file locations, is that when moving a file, the entire horizontal band gets highlighted as if it's selected, but the movement only happens if one precisely clicks on the folder icon, as shown here:

removed

Megan

Hey there, @Reluctant!

For security and privacy reasons, we can't access your link. Would you mind attaching it directly to our forum, by clicking the camera-like icon?

Reluctant

Thank you for removing the link. It felt funny to link to an image in my own folder in a public forum, but the camera icon calls for a file location, and the ways I have tried to type in a file location failed. Instead of looking in an on-line handbook somewhere to figure out what sort of syntax was needed, I just tried a work-around.

Still being unable to use the camera icon, I trimmed the image to <3MB and am just copying it here:

It isn't very clear, admittedly (I had to lower the quality to get it under 3MB), but the point I am trying to make as an incompetent user trying to do simple things and failing, is that when I first tried to shift a subfolder to another folder, there were "suggested locations" but those were apparently not the folders, but links to the folders that could not be used for dragging and dropping. Then when I, still incompetent, still trying to do something simple, pulled up a folder list, and selected one, I discovered that clicking anywhere on the horizontal band with the folder icon and name highlights it, but that despite being highlighted, it is only selected when one clicks on the actual folder icon; until then, "move" is not allowed.

Just newbie teething pains, and I guess most users will eventually figure all these things out by trial and error, but in virtually every other environment, a thing is highlighted when it is selected.

If it's easy, would you send me a link to where I can read about how to use the camera icon pop-up box, so that I learn how to describe an image file location when using that function?

Megan

Hey @Reluctant, just to make sure we're on the same page here: which platform do you use when trying to move your content?

If I'm not mistaken you use our website, is that correct? If not, feel free to correct me.

Also, in the above example where did you want to move your content? Based on the step-by-step that you described, and if I'm not mistaken in regards to the process you follow, then that sounds like our normal move process.

As for your latest question about the "camera icon pop-up box" and how to use it, would you mind letting me know more, since I'm not entirely on the same page as you?

Do you wish to know more about our camera uploads, or about moving content around?