Cannot save album art when stored in Dropbox

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1

Screenshot 2026-01-15 12.06.27
Screenshot 2026-01-15 12.06.271920×1080 742 KB

Since last night, I’ve been unable to save album art on any mp3 WHEN IN DROPBOX. Now, you’d think this is a Dropbox issue (and I’m also asking over there), but I was able to add cover art to an mp3 using VLC, and it showed up. I was then able to REMOVE the cover art in mp3tag, and could CTRL-Z it back on, but could not add a new cover.

  1. Computer restart, several times as I went through the processes below.
  2. Editing other metadata fields. Worked fine. Can even rename file.
  3. Pause Dropbox, in case it was mid-sync. Nope. And sync is up to date.
  4. Make a "new" version of the mp3 by converting the file (open in Audacity, copy waveform into a new window, export as mp3; also tried convert with Freemake). Nope, can’t edit new file.
  5. Moved files out of Dropbox and tried adding art. This was successful! I put the files back in Dropbox and tried to edit again, and could not.
  6. Upgrading Dropbox to latest version.
  7. Downgraded Dropbox a few versions.
  8. Upgraded again.
  9. Made sure mp3tag was up to date. Latest version release was from November 11, 2025, so it seems unlikely to have broken due to that long-ago update.
  10. Uninstalled Dropbox. Success! I was able to edit all mp3 files, no issue. Obviously, not ideal, because I need to back things up!
  11. Reinstalled Dropbox. Failure. Can no longer add album art.
  12. Checked if other kinds of files can be edited. Can edit images and .txt documents, stopped there. Issue really seems to just by album art for mp3s.
  13. Checked if files were read-only, they are not. (Folders are marked as indeterminate, but this seems to be a Windows behavior. No hidden files found.)
  14. Checked security/permissions. Authenticated users, SYSTEM, and Administrators have full permissions (except "Special permissions," which I wasn't able to enable for anyone.) Plain "Users" did not have write permission, but when I enabled write permission, this did not resolve the issue.
  15. Uninstalled mp3tag, installed again fresh, didn’t touch any settings. Failure.
  16. Made sure files were not loaded in any music player. Cannot see one, and I’m inclined to think it’s not, since ALL mp3 files within Dropbox are affected, and I’m able to edit other metadata and the file names.

I’m at a loss. The Dropbox forum people are trying to figure this out, in case it’s a them problem, but the fact that I can edit other file types might mean it’s not Dropbox? And yet, the fact that I CAN add cover art outside of Dropbox would make it seem like it’s DB! Agh!

2

I can confirm this behavior with Dropbox and MP3tag. I did not try to work on Dropbox-files before, so I cannot confirm that it ever worked.

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I also tried with OneDrive and GMX-Cloud - no problem.
With Foobar2000 has the same problem as with Mp3Tag

Lately, inexplicable problems seem to be occurring with saving album art, even though the issues don't initially appear to be related.
Perhaps the recent Windows updates have actually changed something relevant in this regard.

3

It definitely USED to work. As of maybe 3 days ago, I could add cover art just fine in Dropbox, unless the file was actively being uploaded. That was reasonable. This is untenable.

4

I am getting the exact same error in OneDrive since yesterday. I tried changing the artwork in Foobar, also got an error. Moved the file out of Onedrive, no issues. The fact that it had an error in mp3tag and foobar leads me to believe it’s a OneDrive problem, and I used co-pilot to go through every solution, nothing worked. But then I see you’re having the issue in DropBox, and someone else said their OneDrive was working, so now I’m very confused. Are you using a Windows computer? Maybe a Windows update is to blame?

5

I need to revise my statement regarding OneDrive. My OneDrive folder was apparently not synchronized at the time of the test. I therefore suspect that the MP3 file was only stored locally in the OneDrive folder during the test, and I overlooked that. I'm now experiencing the same problem with OneDrive.

6

Thanks for reporting and investigating!

It looks like the latest Windows Updates (Win 10 KB5073724 and Win 11 KB5074109) broke increasing file size via SetEndOfFile() on file systems backed by cloud storage (e.g., OneDrive or Dropbox).

I've implemented a workaround for this and kindly ask you to test this version in case you're affected by this bug in Windows:

https://download.mp3tag.de/support/D2B958E6-D13F-4B65-A97E-3F67E7C17311/mp3tag-v3.33-beta.8.internal-x64-setup.exe

7

Yes and it's worse than I thought. Take a look at this article:

This is one man's opinion but he makes a strong case. I am glad that I don't use this version of Windows....

8

The build works! :partying_face: 31 of 31 files got artwork successfully, when previously only 7 of 31 in this folder could get cover art. Yay!

9

This worked! Thank you! I donated a lil

10

Another one is this newest "Windows: Microsoft patches Patchday patches". :wink: