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Thomas F.4's avatar
Thomas F.4
New member | Level 2
10 years ago

Files Open as Read-Only?

I am using Dropbox desktop App on my Mac (home) and PC (work). On the Mac (OSX latest version and Office 2011) everything works fine. But on my PC (Windows 7 Pro, Office 2010) files open as Read On...
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  • rabinmoser's avatar
    rabinmoser
    7 years ago
    wrote:
    I don't understand why when I open a file - it asks me at the top if I want to enable editing. Which I DO! so I click on it. But after i have closed the document and reopened it the edits I have made have gone. Does anyone know how you save edits on Dropbox withoutmoving a file/document out of dropbox every time?

    I have the same problem in my smart phone. After I make a change in an excel file, I have to save a copy. Then delete the original. That is the solution I found.

Rich's avatar
Rich
Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

I don't understand why when I open a file - it asks me at the top if I want to enable editing.

Are you opening the file directly from the Dropbox website? Files opened through a web browser are typically marked as Read Only.

But after i have closed the document and reopened it the edits I have made have gone.

When you open a file directly from the Dropbox website (or any website) that file is downloaded to temporary storage. If you make changes to the file and just save it as is, you're saving the copy in temporary storage. That file is not saved back to Dropbox automatically. You need to upload it back to Dropbox yourself.

Instead of selecting Save, select Save As and save the file to a location that's easy to get to (i.e. your Desktop, Downloads, etc.). When done, go back to the Dropbox website and upload the file to the folder you want it to be in.

ams58's avatar
ams58
New member | Level 2
8 years ago
This is an awful bandaid to a HUGE problem Dropbox needs to fix!!
  • clinkinfo's avatar
    clinkinfo
    New member | Level 2
    7 years ago

    Has anyone actually fixed this?  I'm having the read only issue on my PC.  None of the solutions show here do anything.  

     

    Everytime I change the folders and remove the read only flag, the PC immediatelly puts the flag back on!

     

    What is going on?

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