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People are unable to access the ZIP file I sent them via shared link.

Greetings,

I just dropped a ZIP file into a subdirectory of the "...DropBox\Public..." folder. I need a small group of people to access (download) this file as part of my science project.

I created a link to the ZIP file via the Copy Link feature (Right-click->Dropbox->Copy Dropbox Link" and sent the link out to my group. However everyone is having problems accesing the file. They get cryptic messages like "That didn't work for some reason. If it's a fluke, it might work if you refresh the page. You can also ask us for help." I can access and download the file just fine using the public link. So the link itself is good.

Something in the system is blocking access to the ZIP file. It's not a limit violation since just a handful of people are trying to access it. The ZIP file is about 11 MB in size so not too large.

I need help in determining why people can't access the file. Is there a way to get diagnostics so I don't have to guess what's wrong?

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks.

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Nancy

Thanks for posting on our Community today, @AlSchmitt!

I’m afraid it’s not possible to see details on why some users can’t open your shared link on the website.

Did you open your link while not being logged in to your Dropbox account and it still worked fine? You can also open an incognito window on your browser and see if you can access it there, as well.

Other than that, you can delete the old shared link as a test and create a new one. Are the recipients able to open that one perhaps?

Let me know what you find, and we’ll check this further.

AlSchmitt

Hello Nancy (Dropbox Community Moderator),

I received your email reply but when I responded, the email bounces with the following message:

Delivery to the following recipients failed permanently:

* community@dropboxforum.com

Reason: Permanent Error

Can you provide another email address?

Thanks.

Nancy

Hey @AlSchmitt! It’s not possible to email me directly, but you can reply back here on the forum (just like you did now) and I’ll further help.

AlSchmitt

Hi Nancy,

Thank you for the prompt reply!

Some observations and comments which may be helpful:

1. Regarding your comment "I’m afraid it’s not possible to see details on why some users can’t open your shared link on the website.", is it because it's not technically possible to do so or because it's not in your policy to do so? Please clarify.

2. I noticed that every time I click "Copy Dropbox Link" either through File Explorer or directly on theDropBox website, I get a slightly different link each time. The first part (the long part) stays the same but the part after the "=" character differs each time. It that normal? What purpose that that last part serve?

3. I tried sending my users alternate links but none worked.

4. I pasted the link from File Explorer into Google Chrome as was able to view the file via the DropBox website. So it works there as well.

5. As an experiment, I clicked the "Share" button for my ZIP file via the DropBox website and received the following message:

What does this indicate?

6. My ZIP file contains many astrophysics related applications that I authored. My software system called LcTools is being used by 166 scientists worldwide. The system has been in use for 14 years. Note that my applications have been successfully scanned by Norton 360.

Is it possible your system is blocking access because it's detecting some kind of bogus Internet security issue?

Thank you for your time.

Regards,

Al [removed per Community Guidelines]

Nancy

Hey Al! Regarding your first question, that’d be a technical restriction indeed. Apart from that, we don’t have any account visibility on the forum, so I wouldn’t be able to see any info on my end either way.

However, the error message that you’re getting now on the website indicates that your sharing activity has been paused (due to one of the reasons listed here). Did this error just appear on your end, or did you see it earlier, as well?

In any case, I’ve gone ahead and logged a support ticket for you; please reply back to my email directly and we can further investigate this.

Since we’ll no longer be on the forum, which is public, you can also send me a couple examples of the different shared links you kept receiving via your File Explorer (if that’s alright with you).