Files have a brown box on their icon and dont open in Windows 11

Anonymous
2022-02-12T17:29:29+00:00

What is going on here? There is no information anywhere so it obviously isnt a problem for everyone.

Most of my files stored on Dropbox now have a small brown file box icon on the lower left corner of the main icon for all MS Office files. They open perfectly well on the phone and a laptop running Windows 10 but not on my laptop running Windows 11.

I get an error message saying the program cant open it because the file is unsupported or may be corrupt.

Why the **** do they release an OS that doesn't work with their own programs??

Please help,

Thanks

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Files, folders, and storage

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-01-15T16:34:01+00:00

    Bruh, try reading the thread. There are multiple possible solutions posted. Some fixes it by ensuring Dropbox was running in the system tray. Others by making sure One Drive was running in the system tray.

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  2. Diane Poremsky MVP 17,526 Reputation points MVP Volunteer Moderator
    2023-01-15T03:06:39+00:00

    I have tried linking and unlinking my One Drive, and either way, I cannot get the brownbox to go away, and give me access to all my pictures. To be clear, these are all photo files stored in my desktop Dropbox, but somehow access is being denied by OneDrive, even though I am not syncing. Any thoughts?

    Are you sure that onedrive is denying access? Is OneDrive also syncing dropbox?

    I use dropbox and have the brown icon - only on files that are marked to keep on device. .

    Is dropbox signed in?

    Are the files marked for online only?

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  3. Anonymous
    2023-01-15T02:55:47+00:00

    I was just on a support session with an "experienced" technician from JustAsk (Microsoft put me through to them for a $49 subscription fee to get support to resolve this issue with OneDrive) and the guy had NO CLUE how to resolve this, after 3 hours of wasted time.

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  4. Anonymous
    2023-01-15T02:52:49+00:00

    I have tried linking and unlinking my One Drive, and either way, I cannot get the brownbox to go away, and give me access to all my pictures. To be clear, these are all photo files stored in my desktop Dropbox, but somehow access is being denied by OneDrive, even though I am not syncing. Any thoughts?

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  5. Anonymous
    2023-01-15T02:49:34+00:00

    I am told by Dropbox support that it is definitely a OneDrive sync issue. He sent me a link to the OneDrive icon lists, and the brown file box is definitely there. I spent hours on the phone with the tech company that Microsoft outsourced me to, called JustAsk. It cost $1 to sign up, and $48 a month subscription, and it was another wasted 3 hours of my life I won't get back with no resolution. After 3 hours of working with a tech who seemed like he was googling for responses, then sending me irrelevent links, he wanted me to pay another $10 for screensharing support to fix my problem. No thank you.

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