How to use flexible file names on Dropbox

Updated Jul 22, 2024

This article describes a feature available to all Dropbox users on Windows.

Flexible file names allows users on the Dropbox desktop app for Windows to successfully sync files and folders with names that contain special characters. Previously, these files and folders would be visible on dropbox.com but wouldn’t appear in the File Explorer despite the Dropbox desktop app being fully synced.

Now special characters are replaced by “_“ (Unicode character U+005F) when syncing to Windows devices. This change happens to file and folder names if the name ends with a period or contains the following characters:

For example, if you have a file named “test:april.txt”, that file will sync to File Explorer as “test_april.txt”. Additionally, if you have a folder named “Important stuff.” it’ll be converted to “Important stuff_”.

Notes:

This name change only happens locally. The name of your file hasn’t changed on the Dropbox servers, and will appear as normal on dropbox.com, unless you change it manually.
If you locally rename a file that was previously automatically renamed, without removing any “_“ (underscores), the new name will sync to dropbox.com, including those underscores.

Learn more about Dropbox file and folder naming recommendations.

How to turn flexible file names on or off

You‘ll see a notification when you’re syncing files that contain special characters. Click Opt-out or Opt-in on this prompt to go directly to Preferences.

To turn this feature on or off at any time:

Click the Dropbox icon in your taskbar.
- Learn what to do if you don’t see the Dropbox icon.
Click your avatar (profile picture or initials) in the top-right corner.
Click Preferences.
Click Sync in the left sidebar.
Toggle Flexible file names to On or Off.

Note: If you have a large number of files with incompatible characters, the initial sync after enabling flexible file names may take longer to complete.

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