---
title: "How to fix conflicted copies in iCloud and Dropbox"
author: Pedro Thomaz
source: https://coffeetext.app/blog/fix-conflicted-copies-icloud-dropbox
---

# How to fix conflicted copies in iCloud and Dropbox

> Checked November 2026 against help from [Dropbox](https://help.dropbox.com/organize/conflicted-copy), [Apple](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/document-versions-conflict-icloud-drive-mac-mh40780/mac) and [Syncthing](https://docs.syncthing.net/users/syncing.html). Coffee isn't affiliated with any of them.

Compare the two versions, copy whatever you need into the one you're keeping, and then move the other to the Trash. Sync services can't do this for you, as neither one knows which edit you meant, and both Dropbox and Apple tell you to merge by hand. The trap is deciding which file is the "real" one from its name alone, so read both first.

## Why these files appear

Each service keeps both versions so that neither edit is lost. The details differ.

| | Dropbox | iCloud Drive | Syncthing |
|---|---|---|---|
| When | Two people change a file at once, someone edits offline, or an app autosaves a file left open | The same document is edited on several devices while offline | The same file changes in two places |
| What you see | A second file | A dialog when you open the document | A second file |
| Name | Adds the editor's username, "conflicted copy" and the save date | Numbers added to kept versions, such as "Seven Wonders 2" | `<filename>.sync-conflict-<date>-<time>-<modifiedBy>.<ext>` |
| Which gets the new name | The last version saved | Every kept version except the first | The older version |

These come from [Dropbox's help](https://help.dropbox.com/organize/conflicted-copy), [Apple's guide](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/document-versions-conflict-icloud-drive-mac-mh40780/mac) and [Syncthing's docs](https://docs.syncthing.net/users/syncing.html).

## The Dropbox detail most people miss

Dropbox says the last version saved always appears as the conflicted copy. So the file with the awkward name isn't a stale leftover. It may be the newest thing you wrote, and the file with the clean name may be the older one. Deleting "the copy" without looking can throw away your latest work.

## Fixing a Dropbox conflicted copy

1. **Find them.** Search your Dropbox folder in Finder for `conflicted copy`. In Terminal, go to the folder and run:

   ```
   find . -name '*conflicted copy*'
   ```

2. **Compare.** Dropbox's advice is to compare the two by hand and merge. For Markdown, this is far easier than for a Word file, because it's plain text. In Terminal, using your real file names:

   ```
   diff "Note.md" "Note (conflicted copy).md"
   ```

   That shows the lines that differ. If you have Git installed, this shows changes word by word, and it works outside a repository:

   ```
   git diff --no-index --word-diff "Note.md" "Note (conflicted copy).md"
   ```

3. **Merge.** Paste anything you want to keep into one of the files, and save it.

4. **Remove the other.** Move it to the Trash. If you change your mind, it's still there.

If something has already gone wrong, [Dropbox's version history](https://help.dropbox.com/delete-restore/version-history-overview) can go back 30 days on Basic, Plus and Family plans, 180 days on Professional, Essentials, Standard and Business, and 365 days on Advanced, Business Plus and Enterprise. [To restore](https://help.dropbox.com/delete-restore/recover-older-versions), open the file's ••• menu on dropbox.com, choose Activity, then Version history, preview a version, and roll back to it. You can also right-click the file in Finder and open its version history from there.

## Fixing an iCloud Drive conflict

Apple's route is a dialog that appears when you open the document. [Its steps](https://support.apple.com/guide/mac-help/document-versions-conflict-icloud-drive-mac-mh40780/mac) are these:

1. Double-click a version's icon to preview it.
2. Select each version you want to keep.
3. Click Keep.

One warning is worth taking seriously: versions you don't select are deleted from iCloud Drive on every computer, iPhone and iPad with iCloud Drive turned on. When you aren't sure, keep them all. They'll sit side by side with numbers in their names, and Apple's advice from there is to open them and merge the changes into one document, then remove the rest. You can compare them with the same commands as above.

## Stopping them coming back

Dropbox suggests watching for its badge and downloading the latest version when prompted, moving a file out of the Dropbox folder while you work on it, and using an "In Use" folder so others know to leave it alone. If you're working together, it recommends editing in real time in Dropbox Paper or Microsoft Office Online.

For one person across a couple of Macs, a simpler habit covers most cases. Let sync finish before you switch machines, and close notes you aren't working on. Dropbox specifically mentions files left open in apps that autosave, and many editors autosave. Coffee does too, though it only writes when the text has changed.

If several people need to edit the same notes, a sync service isn't really built for it. Git is, as you can see in [proposing a change with Git](https://coffeetext.app/blog/propose-change-git-without-learning-git).

## What Coffee does about them

Coffee has no sync of its own and no way of preventing these conflicts, since they happen in the sync service. What it does is notice other versions when you open a note, and put them side by side.

When it finds one, a line appears saying "Another version of this note was kept", with a See versions button. This opens a panel called "Two versions of this note", showing where each came from and when each last changed. See both shows the differences section by section. You then choose Keep this one, Keep the other one, or Decide later.

It recognises these, in the same folder as the note and with the same file extension:

- **Coffee's own copies**, named `Note (conflict).md`. Coffee makes one when the file on disk has changed since it last read it, rather than overwriting the other text.
- **Dropbox's copies**, when the name has "conflicted copy" in brackets after the note's title.
- **Syncthing's copies**, by their `.sync-conflict-` name.
- **iCloud's unresolved versions**, read from where the system holds them, inside iCloud Drive.
- **iCloud's numbered copies**, such as `Note 2.md`, but only inside iCloud Drive, and only if the file's title heading is still `Note`. Anyone can name a file `Note 2`, so a number alone isn't enough. A copy with no matching heading won't be picked up.

There are limits worth stating:

- **Nothing is merged.** You keep one version whole. If you want parts of both, copy what you need across yourself first.
- **It works one note at a time.** Coffee looks when a note opens or its folder changes. There's no list of every conflict in your library, so the `find` command above is still useful.
- **A copy from elsewhere needs a recognisable name.** A service that names its copies differently won't be spotted.
- **A locked version stays locked.** If a private note's other version uses a key this Mac doesn't have, Coffee says so and leaves it untouched.

The version you don't keep goes to the Trash, including iCloud's: Coffee writes it to a file and trashes that, so you can still get at it. If you take the other version, the text you replaced goes to the Trash too, and ⌘Z brings it back as well.

You can do all of this for free with `find` and `diff`, so this alone isn't a reason to buy Coffee. It's Mac only, with 14 days free and no card or account, and the [prices are here](https://coffeetext.app/#pricing).

## Questions

### What is a conflicted copy?

It's a second file that Dropbox creates when a file has been edited in conflicting ways, so that no work is lost. Its name includes the editor's username, "conflicted copy" and the save date.

### Is it safe to delete a conflicted copy?

Only after comparing it. Dropbox says the last version saved is the one that becomes the conflicted copy, so it may hold your newest text.

### Does iCloud Drive make conflicted copies?

Not under that name. Apple describes a dialog that asks which versions to keep. If you keep several, the extra ones get numbers in their names, such as "Seven Wonders 2".

### What happens to the iCloud versions I don't select?

Apple says they're deleted from iCloud Drive on every device with iCloud Drive turned on. Preview each one first, and keep them all if you're unsure.

### Does Coffee merge conflicted copies?

No. Coffee shows the differences and you keep one version. The other goes to the Trash, so copy anything you need across before you choose.

---

Written by Pedro Thomaz, who makes Coffee, a Markdown editor for the Mac on macOS 15 or later. It's free for 14 days with no card or account, then €3 a month, €29 a year, or €79 once with two years of updates. More at https://coffeetext.app/llms-full.txt