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Forum Discussion
Dropbox changed my sharing link with the same file name!! Can I add a file to an old dropbox link?
Hi There, I'm hoping someone can help with this issue. I uploaded a dropbox link to an awards entry portal. It's a link to a video. Just before the deadline, I updated the file in my Dropbox. The...
Hello,
I think what he is trying to explain is exactly what happened to me above. When you use the dropbox desktop app on your computer to replace a file with the same name, it deletes the LINK, thereby breaking the link which you may have already shared publicly in multiple places. Big headache.
This never used to happen, but with recent Mac OS updates it happens quite frequently. Therefore, now I only replace files in Dropbox via my browser, never on the desktop app. This ensures the link remains intact and only the file changes.
Molly
Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHey BNC_2022, thanks for reaching out to our Community.
Would you mind clarifying what happened exactly? Do you mean that you overwrote the file with a different one?
If so, you might want to restore the old version of the file from the version history, to see if that helps.
Let me know how it goes.
Hello,
I think what he is trying to explain is exactly what happened to me above. When you use the dropbox desktop app on your computer to replace a file with the same name, it deletes the LINK, thereby breaking the link which you may have already shared publicly in multiple places. Big headache.
This never used to happen, but with recent Mac OS updates it happens quite frequently. Therefore, now I only replace files in Dropbox via my browser, never on the desktop app. This ensures the link remains intact and only the file changes.
Molly
Thanks, DocMolly. That is exactly what happened.
My query now has become: Is it possible to use the old link (I still have a record of the URL) and somehow make it link to the updated file, which has the same name and is in the same place?
I hope this makes sense.
- Walter
Hey BNC_2022, sorry to jump in, but have you tried the walk-around Molly suggested in her response? Namely, did you try updating the file the link points to through a web browser instead of doing it locally on your computer?
hi All,
I've solved the problem thanks to you all.
I used Dropbox rewind feature to recover the same file from yesterday. Once I did that, the old link then worked again.
I then replaced the file with the new version through the browser... and the link still worked!!!
So happy. Thank you all
Uploading a file to Dropbox via a browser works for me too--the link to the original file is applied to the replacement file. If the file has the same name as the one you want to replace, Dropbox overwrites it without warning, which is what I wanted to happen anyway.
If instead you upload the replacement file with a different filename, and then rename it in the web browser, Dropbox will not overwrite it, but will append a (1) to the filename. Not what you want! So first navigate to the folder location of the file you want to replace, and under the search field at the top of the page select upload (or click the 3 vertical dots) and choose the file from your computer that is named exactly the same as the file you want to replace. Then the link from the old file will now work to download the new file (at least that works for me as of 2024-04-16)
To avoid the hassle of uploading the replacement file in the web browser, link a folder that the file is inside of, instead of linking the file itself. Then it won't matter what files you put inside of the folder - the folder will contain whatever files are present at the time someone uses the folder link.
Last hint: I always change the end of the Dropbox link to <=1> instead of <=0> (not including those <> brackets). Then the linked item will download immediately instead of someone having to visit a Dropbox web page.
