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Forum Discussion
After latest Dropbox update, documents on Mac are set to open with Dropbox by default
MacBook Pro M1 with the MacOS Ventura 13.1 installed. I use the Dropbox Plus plan, and I predominantly access files through my Finder app.
The Dropbox app notified me of the new update — I installed and waited for everything to sync and index. Now everytime I try to open a file from Finder (tried with .png, .pdf, .ai, .jpg and several other random filetypes), the system attempts to open the file with Dropbox, and nothing happens (the file doesn't open in the application it's supposed to open in by default). I have to go to the "Open With" right-click menu and select the proper application by hand everytime, which is a tad annoying.
Screenshots of Dropbox appearing on top of the "Open With" menu below, both with an "online-only" and an "available offline" dowloaded file.
Thanks in advance,
D.
Problem Description: When trying to open online files from the Finder, the default (presumably set by Dropbox) is to open the file in Dropbox online. A secondary issue, but this typically fails as well (see image below). The desired behavior is to automatically download the file and open the default application for the file extension, as is currently the behavior on Windows. In the "get info" screen for the file, I can change the default application manually to the correct program and get the desired behavior. However, the default will revert to Dropbox later. Additionally, even though I change the default for all similar file types, the default remains Dropbox for all other files.
I started using the Dropbox beta a couple months ago, and this has been the behavior for the duration.
Note this may be similar to the following post, but prior to using the beta I could not open from the Finder at all without first manually setting the file to "Make available offline": https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/View-download-and-export/Online-Files-don-t-open-on-Mac-via-Finder/m-p/552537#M31054
- Same here. Right-clicking and choosing Open With and then the default app (that is still registered as Default!) gives the desired behavior: the file downloads and is opened with the app.
Thanks for the note. In your case does it revert back to "open with Dropbox" to the default after making this change (even if selecting "change all"). This was the particularly annoying issue I was trying to describe.
I have this exact same issue on a MacBook (Inter CPU) with Ventuna 13.1 and Dropbox 164.4.7914.
Same problem here with Dropbox beta v165.3.4275 on Ventura 13.1 after a completely fresh install of both OS and Dropbox app.
- Walter
Dropbox Staff
Hey Dario1250, sorry to hear about this and thanks for all the details you have provided and the screenshots too.
Can you please clarify the desktop app's exact status and version as shown in your menu bar at the moment?
Also, did you reboot your computer since you first noticed this happen?
Let us know and we'll take it from there.
Walter — thanks for the response! I've rebooted my computer as well as the Dropbox App to no effect.
Here's the status of the dropbox app (from the menu bar icon):
Everything seems fine and up to date. Here's some additional info I noticed in the meantime:
The files and folders that were "Available Offline" before i updated Dropbox and re-indexed all the files are fine.They behave as they should, and Dropbox is not on top of their "Open With" list.
The files and folders that were "Online Only" before the update and re-indexing are the ones behaving in the way I described:
- When I make them "Available Offline", they try to open with Dropbox on double-click.
(I know this because if I quit the Dropbox Desktop App, double clicking any of these files will re-open it.) - Dropbox is on top of their "Open With" list, but the correct app still has "(default)" next to it. If I open the Inspector window, same thing. (See below.)
- Clicking "Open With" and selecting the correct application opens the file as it should, but doesn't fix the problem.
- Clicking "Always Open With" and selecting the correct application opens the file as it should and fixes the problem for that one individual file only, not the entire file type.
So, the upload and download work fine. The toggling between "Online Only" and "Available Offline" also shows no issues. No data is lost, the files work well. The only problem seems to be that the files that were "Online Only" before reindexing are now forever marked to be opened by Dropbox by default, while he files that were "Available Offline" before reindexing behave the same as before. I'm certain this part is key to the mystery somehow, I'm just not the detective to solve it.
Please, help!
- When I make them "Available Offline", they try to open with Dropbox on double-click.
I have this exact same issue - also on a MacBook Pro M1 Pro.
Files that I right-click and set to "Make available offline" appear to download, a green tick appears, with the words "Available Offline" underneath. But if I double-click on the file it tries to open in Dropbox - and the Open With is set to open in Dropbox by default.
The update has broken my Dropbox workflow. 😢
Hi Megan. My set up is exactly the same as the original poster (MacBook Pro M1 with Ventura 13.1 running Dropbox v164.4.7914) and I have the exact same issue. 😊
Ever since upgrading to v164.4.7914 on macos ventura dropbox replaces the default apps for pdf docx etc file names. Going to file -> get info and changing the default application back to word/finder -> change all does not work. Does anyone know how to fix this???
I have to do the steps in the images above inorder to get the file to open with the correct application and not dropbox.
On the latest Mac OS and Dropbox updates, online-only is the default option for all files. This is problematic and there's no way to change it. Why would you take away control of this feature - no user wants less control.
I have folders set up with multiple teammates adding to the folders, editing files, etc. If my folders are not automatically downloading and sync'ing their new work as local files in the background, if I try to work while on an airplane or at a diner in the middle of nowhere, with no wifi, I'd no longer be able to make progress on collaborative work while unable to download the full file from the cloud to replace the online only version.
Why on earth would you force me to live in a cloud-only environment, when there is no universe where wifi is available at all times? But clearly remote work is the new normal, people travel with laptops and end up in poor connectivity. I'm absolutely furious about this and it's only a matter of time before this completely ruins a workflow for me and destroys a project timeline.
In everyday work, it's simply annoying that there's a delay for the file to download every single time I open a collaborator's work to review or add to it. Working from a weak wifi connection, this would be prohibitive as I open large Photoshop files, for instance. I need to keep all my working files local while they're active projects, and then switch them to online-only when they are closed. PLEASE stop breaking a good thing, dropbox. It just. Keeps. Happening. I'm trying to run a business, our dropbox workflow is at the core of that, and every week something breaks and I lose time to working around yet another feature change that seems to prioritize some corporate goal over the needs of dedicated everyday users.
