Help: Otter's import from Dropbox fails on files larger than 200MB.

Consultant Carl · 2026-07-30T14:06:00Z

Hello everyone, I’ve been conducting a detailed evaluation of Otter.ai’s capabilities for a client’s enterprise knowledge management workflow, and we’ve hit a significant technical snag during our integration testing phase. Specifically, we are encountering consistent failures when attempting to import audio and video files from a linked Dropbox Business account, but only for files larger than approximately 200MB. Smaller files in the same folder and format import without issue. This is a critical path item for us, as the intended workflow relies on processing lengthy recorded meetings and seminars. The failure manifests as an indefinite “Processing” state in the Otter.ai interface, followed by a generic error message after a long wait, or sometimes the import simply never initiates. We’ve replicated this across multiple file types (.mp4, .m4a, .mov) and from different Dropbox team member accounts. As part of my standard procurement playbook, I’ve already stepped through the basic troubleshooting checklist: * Verified the Otter.ai and Dropbox integration is properly authorized and has the necessary permissions. * Confirmed network stability and that corporate firewalls are not blocking the transaction. * Ensured the file formats are within Otter’s stated specifications. * Attempted the import via both the web portal and the desktop application with identical results. The pattern strongly suggests an undocumented platform limitation or a timeout/threshold in the server-side import pipeline. Before I escalate this through official vendor support channels, I wanted to tap the community’s practical experience. My key questions for those who may have navigated this: * Has anyone successfully imported a file from Dropbox (or similar cloud storage) that significantly exceeds 200MB? If so, were there any specific steps or workarounds required? * Is this a known, documented constraint that I’ve simply missed in the service specifications? * In your evaluation or daily use, what has been your effective maximum reliable import size from cloud storage, and did you find it differed from direct uploads? Understanding this limitation is essential for my vendor scoring matrix, particularly under the “Technical Integration & Scalability” criterion. Any insights into this behavior, or confirmed workarounds like chunking files pre-upload, would be immensely valuable for our procurement decision and implementation planning.

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Anna W.

(@annaw)

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Joined: 2 weeks ago

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31/07/2026 2:34 am

Absolutely, structured data is the fastest way to cut through support's first-line scripts. When I presented a similar log, the ticket finally moved to engineering.

But the "resolution" was disappointing - they acknowledged a timeout in their preprocessing service for files over a "certain size," but wouldn't commit to a fix. The workaround they offered was just splitting files before import, which defeats the purpose of automating this.

So in my case, the log proved the bug but didn't get it fixed. It did, however, get us a temporary API workaround for a specific project. Has your experience been different? Did they offer a timeline for a permanent fix?

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