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

rgnx91's avatar
rgnx91
Explorer | Level 4
3 years ago

Sync symbols not showing up

I used to use Dropbox for years, had all the archive of my work on it, and the main thing that I loved was how easily I could keep track of what was/wasn't synced on my laptop. I had to move to iClou...
Desktop
Dropbox Plus
Mac
View
  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    3 years ago

    Hi rgnx91, you got it right. 

     

    On Dropbox for macOS, the syncing icons have slightly changed from what you may be used to. Files and folders can be in various sync states, for example:
     
    “Available offline”

     

     

     

     
    A solid green circle with a white checkmark means your file or folder is synced and available offline. You will see this icon after right-clicking a file or folder and selecting Make available offline.
     
    “Online-only”
     

     

     
    A cloud icon with a down arrow means your file or folder is synced and online-only until it is opened. Clicking on the this icon will download the file/folder and change its state to “available”. 
     
    Double clicking online-only files from Finder will automatically download this file and open it in its default application. Opening files from an application will also automatically download these files and open it.
     
    “Available” (no icon)
    A file with no icon means that it has been opened either by double-clicking, through a third-party application or by clicking the cloud icon to download. 
     
    Files and folders may have other icons next to them if for example a file is syncing or downloading. Other examples include error states where a file/folder cannot be synced with Dropbox. Hovering over the icon will give more details of what the error may be.
     
    For a more detailed explanation of the sync icons please visit our Help Center.
     
    Thank you!
rgnx91's avatar
rgnx91
Explorer | Level 4

Hi Walter, thanks for this! So, if I'm understanding correctly, it's just that the icons have changed? Sorry, I suppose I must have missed that. I thought something wasn't working right... or maybe I'm traumatised by iCloud's sync 😧

Megan's avatar
Megan
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
3 years ago

Hi rgnx91, you got it right. 

 

On Dropbox for macOS, the syncing icons have slightly changed from what you may be used to. Files and folders can be in various sync states, for example:
 
“Available offline”

 

 

 

 
A solid green circle with a white checkmark means your file or folder is synced and available offline. You will see this icon after right-clicking a file or folder and selecting Make available offline.
 
“Online-only”
 

 

 
A cloud icon with a down arrow means your file or folder is synced and online-only until it is opened. Clicking on the this icon will download the file/folder and change its state to “available”. 
 
Double clicking online-only files from Finder will automatically download this file and open it in its default application. Opening files from an application will also automatically download these files and open it.
 
“Available” (no icon)
A file with no icon means that it has been opened either by double-clicking, through a third-party application or by clicking the cloud icon to download. 
 
Files and folders may have other icons next to them if for example a file is syncing or downloading. Other examples include error states where a file/folder cannot be synced with Dropbox. Hovering over the icon will give more details of what the error may be.
 
For a more detailed explanation of the sync icons please visit our Help Center.
 
Thank you!
  • rgnx91's avatar
    rgnx91
    Explorer | Level 4
    3 years ago

    Awesome! That's good to know. Thank you Megan and Walter.

About View, download, and export

Need support with viewing, downloading, and exporting files and folders from your Dropbox account? Find help from the Dropbox Community.

Need more support

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!