diff --git a/server.R b/server.R
index e5f650a7..c6702476 100644
--- a/server.R
+++ b/server.R
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ shinyServer(function(input, output, session) {
   shinyjs::hide("box_preview")
   shinyjs::hide("box_validate")
   shinyjs::hide("box_submit")
-
+  
   # initial loading page
   observeEvent(input$cookie, {
     # login and update session
@@ -459,14 +459,6 @@ shinyServer(function(input, output, session) {
     dcWaiter("hide")
   })
 
-  observeEvent(input$dropdown_template, {
-    shinyjs::enable("btn_template")
-    shinyjs::enable("btn_template_select")
-    updateSelectInput(session, "header_dropdown_template",
-      choices = input$dropdown_template
-    )
-  })
-
   # Goal of this button is to get the files within a folder the user selects
   observeEvent(input$btn_folder, {
     dcWaiter("show", msg = paste0("Getting data"), color = primary_col())
@@ -482,7 +474,7 @@ shinyServer(function(input, output, session) {
     sapply(clean_tags[1:2], FUN = hide)
 
 
-    if (selected$schema_type() %in% c("record", "file")) {
+ #   if (selected$schema_type() %in% c("record", "file")) {
       # check number of files if it's file-based template
       # This gets files using the synapse REST API
       # get file list in selected folder
@@ -512,7 +504,7 @@ shinyServer(function(input, output, session) {
         # update files list in the folder
         data_list$files(list2Vector(file_list))
       }
-    }
+ #   }
   })
 
   observeEvent(input$dropdown_folder, {
@@ -526,34 +518,6 @@ shinyServer(function(input, output, session) {
   })
 
   observeEvent(data_list$files(), ignoreInit = TRUE, {
-    warn_text <- NULL
-    if (length(data_list$folders()) == 0) {
-      # add warning if there is no folder in the selected project
-      warn_text <- paste0(
-        "please create a folder in the ",
-        strong(sQuote(input$dropdown_project)),
-        " prior to submitting templates."
-      )
-    }
-    if (is.null(data_list$files())) {
-      # display warning message if folder is empty and data type is file-based
-      warn_text <- paste0(
-        strong(sQuote(input$dropdown_folder)), " folder is empty,
-        please upload your data before generating manifest.",
-        "<br>", strong(sQuote(input$dropdown_template)),
-        " requires data files to be uploaded prior to generating and submitting templates.",
-        "<br>", "Filling in a template before uploading your data,
-        may result in errors and delays in your data submission later."
-      )
-    }
-
-    # if there is warning from above checks
-    if (!is.null(warn_text)) {
-      # display warnings
-      output$text_template_warn <- renderUI(tagList(br(), span(class = "warn_msg", HTML(warn_text))))
-      show("div_template_warn")
-    }
-
     dcWaiter("hide")
   })
 
@@ -579,6 +543,8 @@ shinyServer(function(input, output, session) {
   # update selected schema template name
   observeEvent(input$dropdown_template,
     {
+      req(input$tabs %in% "tab_template_select")
+      warn_text <- reactiveVal(NULL)
       shinyjs::enable("btn_template_select")
       # update reactive selected values for schema
       selected$schema(data_list$template()[input$dropdown_template])
@@ -594,6 +560,43 @@ shinyServer(function(input, output, session) {
 
       # clean all tags related with selected template
       sapply(clean_tags, FUN = hide)
+      
+      if (length(data_list$folders()) == 0) {
+        # add warning if there is no folder in the selected project
+        warn_text(paste0(
+          "please create a folder in the ",
+          strong(sQuote(input$dropdown_project)),
+          " prior to submitting templates."
+        ))
+      }
+      if (all(is.na(data_list$files())) & selected$schema_type() == "file") {
+        # display warning message if folder is empty and data type is file-based
+        warn_text(paste0(
+          strong(sQuote(input$dropdown_folder)), " folder is empty,
+        please upload your data before generating manifest.",
+          "<br>", strong(sQuote(input$dropdown_template)),
+          " requires data files to be uploaded prior to generating and submitting templates.",
+          "<br>", "Filling in a template before uploading your data,
+        may result in errors and delays in your data submission later."
+        ))
+      }
+      
+      # if there is warning from above checks
+      if (!is.null(warn_text())) {
+        # display warnings
+        output$text_template_warn <- renderUI(tagList(br(), span(class = "warn_msg", HTML(warn_text()))))
+        show("div_template_warn")
+        # nx_report_warning(
+        #   title = "No data uploaded in folder",
+        #   HTML(warn_text())
+        # )
+      }
+      
+      shinyjs::enable("btn_template")
+      shinyjs::enable("btn_template_select")
+      updateSelectInput(session, "header_dropdown_template",
+                        choices = input$dropdown_template
+      )
     },
     ignoreInit = TRUE
   )
diff --git a/ui.R b/ui.R
index e62af869..83cfefe2 100644
--- a/ui.R
+++ b/ui.R
@@ -203,6 +203,11 @@ ui <- shinydashboardPlus::dashboardPage(
           label = NULL,
           choices = "Generating..."
         ),
+        hidden(div(
+          id = "div_template_warn",
+          height = "100%",
+          htmlOutput("text_template_warn")
+        )),
         actionButton("btn_template_select", "Download template",
                      class = "btn-primary-color"
         ),