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Forum Discussion
Folders showing up empty when I send a link to someone
This has only been happening to me within the past week, but it is really hurting my business. I am always sending a folder with either video files or photos. Generally people are opening the link on their phone with the intention of saving them to their phone.
Basically what is happening is when I send someone the link to the folder, for them it either says that the folder is empty, or it shows the files but when they click on them it says the file type is not supported and so they can't view them or save them. This seems to happen whether they are using the Dropbox app or they open the link using Safari. The same thing also happens if they try to open the link to the folder on desktop.
Also it should be noted that I upload the files via the Dropbox website, and I know they are all synced before I send the link because I check on the app on my phone before I copy the link.
I have double checked and I know I am sending them the correct link and near the link when I copy it it literally says "anyone with this link will have access to these files" but I guess that is not the case for some reason. It also doesn't seem to matter if the person is signed in to their account or not.
Any idea on why this is happening? Need to fix it ASAP
Same thing happened to me. It's extremely annoying.
So far the thing that worked for me was to turn off tracking of viewers for that particular folder. Seems like when the person to whom you're sending the link refuses to be tracked, the folder appears empty. (Dropbox!!! Why should the priority be on tracking instead of actually doing your primary job - sharing the files?!)
So the way to do this: log in Dropbox.com via a browser -- find your folder -- click Share -- click the Settings gear icon -- under the tab "Folder settings" uncheck the option "Viewer info. Show who’s viewing files in this folder to people who can edit." -- click Save
(you might need to generate the sharing link again after this, not sure)
The tracking can also be turned off by default in your account settings -- under General tab find the option "See info about people who view my files" and switch it off.
- I rely on my Dropbox Plus for A LOT. But after this latest 7/13/22 update, I’m being told by multiple colleagues, friends, and family members that my shared links are now prompting them to sign in with either Google or their Apple ID, are being steered toward paid membership, and are ultimately delivered a message that “the folder is empty” that I’ve shared. This has NEVER happened before so it must be a part of the latest update. I use Dropbox on a daily basis and share links with several people. It’s worthless if they cannot see what I share! Can anyone help?
I’m a subscribing member of Dropbox and I’ve never had this issue sharing a folder before. Timelines are being impacted and this is the second time I’ve encountered this issue since the latest July update released. Please advise or I’m stuck with heading over to iCloud forever. I can’t deal with this impacting deadlines.- Hello Mark,
I pay for Dropbox Plus and have for several years. I’ve never had any issues “sharing” any one of my folders / project via messages or email until recently.
Currently - When I share the link to a specific folder of a project that I’m working on, the recipient gets a prompt that states “the folder is empty”. I wrote verbatim what is happening, knowing full-well that you’re not able to “look over my shoulder”. Basically, one day I could share any folder via link that I wanted to. Then the July update happened. And ever since, I’ve had several colleagues, friends & family members tell me the same thing - “folder is empty”. Obviously, some bug exists in the July patch as this has never happened to me before.
- Hey guys!
Ive been having this problem for the last couple of days. Someone sends me a folder with some photos. Then i check them out and put it in a different folder. Then send it to other people using my iphone dropbox app. And now people complain that the folder shows empty even though i can see all the photos on my phone or my pc. If anyone knows what could be the problem please let me know. Customer service wasnt helpful. Thank you.Same here - seems to be an app issue. If the person I sent the link to via text copies it from then pastes it into a browser window, they can see the images. Just not through the app. Then I had someone send me a link via text to a folder and I got the same "folder is empty".
- I’m having trouble opening multiple Dropbox links from different users on the app on my phone. Each folder is saying “Folder Is Empty” on the phone app while the folder loads fine on a laptop and for all other users that the link is shared with. I’ve never had this issue before. Please help!
I'm experiencing the same issue. Not sure what's going with dropbox.
- Nancy
Dropbox Staff
Thanks for posting on our Community, ejnoro! Let’s have a look into this.
First of all, can you let me know if you’ve also tested the shared link on your end? Do you face the same issue?
In order to check this, please make sure that you’ve opened one of your shared links via an incognito window of your browser, on which you’re not logged in to your Dropbox account.
Also, you mentioned that in some cases, the users receive an error stating that the files can’t be previewed. Can you let me know what type of files they usually receive this error for? Is it .jpg, .doc files, for example?
Keep me updated.
- I am also having this issue for some people I send the links to but not others 🤷:female_sign:
- If they copy and paste the link into the phone browser and avoid using the app so “continue to website” it works but going through the app doesn’t.
Is there a problem with the app?
I am also going through this issue as well with dropbox and need some help asap
- Nancy
Hey Victoraguilar92, and welcome to our forum!
Can you check my previous message and let me know if you’ve tried all of the provided suggestions?
Give me a nudge when you have more details, and we’ll have a look together.
Hi, I can do that for you.
Here is a link to a folder with .jpg files that, at first, showed up as empty to my clients. But after resetting the share link it became visible.
https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fo/e2jhwcg4hvw3no91e3aqy/h?dl=0&rlkey=d8ub946udq98fknkc337um34n
I cannot send you a link to the folders that I am having trouble with because for some reason they no longer have a sharing link and I get an error when trying to create one.
But for reference those folders contained .mp4 files.
Also, As far as my troubleshooting goes, with the folders I have had issues with:
I have tried resetting the link, sending/receiving via mobile AND desktop, Signed in or not signed in to Dropbox, with the mobile app and with a browser (on mobile) and even tried iPhone vs Android and nothing seemed to change the result in any way.
For me personally (as referenced in my last post) this seems to only happen to me with a folder that contains video files. With photos it usually works but sometimes I have to reset the link 1 or 2 times before it does.
My temporary solution is that I have to send individual links to each video file.
- As a recipient, I just started having this same problem last week. We have been using this format for a few years to share information. This past week, when I opened the resources link, sent by the administrator, I saw “folder empty”. I am the only one with this new problem. Did I accidentally change a setting? Could it be related to a very slow backup issue that I am experiencing?
I've uploaded a folder to my dropbox and shared a link over WhatsApp but one of my customers gets the message folder empty when opening the link
I'm very confused as my computer says that the files are synced
Pavel
Same thing happened to me. It's extremely annoying.
So far the thing that worked for me was to turn off tracking of viewers for that particular folder. Seems like when the person to whom you're sending the link refuses to be tracked, the folder appears empty. (Dropbox!!! Why should the priority be on tracking instead of actually doing your primary job - sharing the files?!)
So the way to do this: log in Dropbox.com via a browser -- find your folder -- click Share -- click the Settings gear icon -- under the tab "Folder settings" uncheck the option "Viewer info. Show who’s viewing files in this folder to people who can edit." -- click Save
(you might need to generate the sharing link again after this, not sure)
The tracking can also be turned off by default in your account settings -- under General tab find the option "See info about people who view my files" and switch it off.
please help!!
when i share link to my friend it shows that the folder is empty!
- Nancy
Hi seasons studio, I hope you’re doing well.
Can you check the workaround given by maara here and let me know if it works for you?
