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meddycb's avatar
meddycb
Helpful | Level 5
2 years ago

Move Google Sheet FROM Dropbox TO Google Drive

I have several spreadsheets made in a Google Sheet within Dropbox. My company is removing Dropbox access and I have to move all the Google Sheets from Dropbox to Google Drive. However, this is creating an error. "Can't move web-based file out of Dropbox. Web-based files will only work in Dropbox." 

How can I transfer these to Google Drive??? I do not want to have to rebuild all these sheets. I've tried downloading to excel and then uploading to Drive, but not all the formatting and formulas stayed through that transfer. Please help!!

  • I was able to upload to Drive as Excel and then re-save as Google Sheets. There were a few things I had to refresh, like some data validation checkboxes and extra empty cells, but otherwise, looks like the original. Not the ideal, however. 

  • Nancy's avatar
    Nancy
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    Hi meddycb! Welcome aboard the Community. 

     

    At the moment, there’s not a specific Dropbox feature, in order to transfer these files directly to Google Drive. 

     

    Since you mention that the format’s affected while downloading them, what I’d recommend is to use a third-party app, in order to move them directly to your Google Drive account. 

     

    Otherwise, you can also try syncing the files via the Dropbox desktop app, and then drag them out of your local Dropbox folder, instead of downloading them from our website.

     

    If you need something else, I'm here for you.

    • meddycb's avatar
      meddycb
      Helpful | Level 5

      Thank you, Nancy. When I try to drag the spreadsheets from the Dropbox app to anywhere else on my computer, I get the same error, that these are "web-based files" and are "only available with Dropbox." 

      • Walter's avatar
        Walter
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

        Hey meddycb, sorry to jump in here, but I just wanted to mention that you should probably try converting those files to a different file type somehow to be able to copy or move them around. Web-based files like GSheets, GDocs and/or Gslides can't be moved normally. 

         

        If you find that your formulas and the formatting of your files are off then, you'll probably need to re-do those anew. 

         

        I know it's not optimal, but I hope this helps to some extent. 

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