You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.
Forum Discussion
Mac -> New files with cloud icon. How to set-it up to sync files available offline?
Hello...
Is it possible to set Dropbox to sync all files directly? For some time now, I've been getting a cloud icon next to a file I put in Dropbox on another device. I always have to open the...
Hi Grifo98, as my colleague mentioned, if you're running the new version of the Dropbox app for Mac OS, then theses changes are expected, and files will default to online-only.
The correct path to the Dropbox folder is set under the SYNC options. In the selective selection, all subfolders are selected.
I uploaded four files via the browser at work today. When I turned on the computer at home, these four files were marked with a cloud icon. To open them, they are first downloaded and then opened. In the past, everything was automatically retrieved with the system start. I would like to have it like that again.
Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHey Grifo98, which version of macOS are you running and which Dropbox app version?
If you've updated to the new Dropbox for macOS version, this is expected behavior.
Files added to your Dropbox account from another device or that are shared by another user will default to online-only.
You can see more about the expected changes here.
I am shocked that DropBox will allow this. Some users have capped data, or no WiFi at times and need to access their files. This change to online-only files with the new DropBox update for Mac users was done without our consent.
Over 700 GB of files were removed from my Macbook laptop. It will take days for this to be fixed and to download them again. I have lost hours of productivity because of this DropBox update, and being unable to access my files.
DropBox needs to apologise to users. Already, I am contemplating moving to another competitor like OneDrive or Google Drive. The change to online-only as a default is unacceptable.
- This change is being forced by Apple. Not Dropbox. And this is currently beta. So you opted in……..
And kinda obviously no cloud storage is really appropriate with large amounts of files and capped data??
I have 140 TB in Dropbox. Obviously only syncing what’s necessary at any given time. But the ability to reliably choose what’s available offline is essential. And was the point of this thread.
- I have the latest version of macOS and the Dropbox client.
- Jay
Hi Grifo98, as my colleague mentioned, if you're running the new version of the Dropbox app for Mac OS, then theses changes are expected, and files will default to online-only.
Hi,
What version of dropbox would I have to use to have it so the default setting is not online only? I am setting up dropbox on a new Mac laptop and I have too many files to download individually at this point.thank you,
Srikanth
- Hannah
Hey sk27, you can't really install a previous version of the Dropbox app to your new Mac and even if you could, it will automatically get updated to the newest version eventually.
But you don't have to make the files available offline individually, you can do this to your entire Dropbox folder, by right-clicking it and choosing "make available offline".
Thanks for being clear about this. However I think this is a really poor, and slightly high handed, decision. I want, and always wanted, all my dropbox files alway on all the connected machines. I am trying to archive my dropbox folder and it is taking many hours to recover files that I thought and intended to be on my hard drive.
I have tried your suggestion that I mark the whole folder as offline, I assume the archive process will force a full download of all my missing files.
Please do not make a change like this again! I do not want to find I need hours to download files I need now because dropbox has, without my agreement, removed them from my hard drive.
1. Agreed this is TERRIBLE service by DROPBOX. If DROPBOX cannot be reset to automatically synchronise all files to be available offline on both synced computers then it will no longer we worth paying for - for many users including me.
2. The statement that this can eb resolved (on Mac) by right-clicking on the folder or the sub-folder or the file and selecting 'available offline' is incorrect. This works for some files but not others (uploaded by other people). The only way to make these files marked with a cloud available offline is by clicking on the cloud for each file individually, which then causes it to download and be available offline.
Again, this automatic compulsory downgrade to DROPBOX makes it useless and not worth paying for for some users, including me. Will DROPBOX fix this?
