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Dimples's avatar
Dimples
Helpful | Level 5
3 years ago

Couln't download. Remove incompatible characters from the filename

Recently all of my computer with Dropbox have started showing a sync error "Couln't download. Remove incompatible characters from the filename. e.g. emojis, /\"<>:|?*"   The problem filename isn'...
Desktop
Download
Error Messages
Sync
  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    10 months ago

    Hey Roy2010, no worries let me share Sam's response here as well.

     

    Hi everyone,

     

    Sharing an update on the topic: our team is working on adjusting this, and it's expected to roll out in our next Stable Build (V190).

     

    You can check our releases here, and we'll keep you informed on the progress.

     

    Thanks,

    Sam 

     

    I appreciate your patience on this, thank you!

Walter's avatar
Walter
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

Hey nomadism, thanks for the report and sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

 

Just so you know, I merged your post under this thread as it echoes the OP here. 

 

Can you please take a look and reply to the questions I asked Dimples? 

 

Thanks a bunch!

Dimples's avatar
Dimples
Helpful | Level 5
3 years ago

Walter I couldn't find any files with incompatible characters obvious on dropbox.com.  My version of the dropbox app is 148.4.4519.  It currently say "Up to Date" but that error pops up on my machine about once a week.

 

  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    3 years ago

    Hey Dimples, how are you today? 

     

    Can you find the file online? If so, can you also check to make sure there's no space at the beginning or end of the file name, please? 

     

    Provided this is the case, you should be able to rename it. 

    • nomadism's avatar
      nomadism
      Explorer | Level 4
      3 years ago

      Based on my own research, it seems that the app in charge of the folder makes temporary file(s) which contains the "incompatible characters," but then soon deletes it.

       

      So when dropbox recognizes the creation of the file, it sends the error message. But then, when I try to go and check it, the app that originally created the file(s) seems to have already deleted it (hence, "temporary file.")

       

      My solution was to use the "ignore file / folder" feature that requires the some tinkering with the terminal, but in the end it worked. No more error messages.

       

      https://help.dropbox.com/files-folders/restore-delete/ignored-files

       

       

    • Dimples's avatar
      Dimples
      Helpful | Level 5
      3 years ago

      Megan, I've got Almost 30,000 files in my dropbox.  It would take forever to go through them all.  It would be nice if the "Go to File" thing just worked so I could find the problem easily.

      • Megan's avatar
        Megan
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        3 years ago

        Hi Dimples. 

         

        You can always use our searchbar on the web to search for the file in question. Want to give it a go? 

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