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

MikeA01730's avatar
MikeA01730
Explorer | Level 4
7 years ago

Folders made available offline were not downloaded

Hi,   This weekend I thought I'd test the Dropbox Available Offline feature by storing travel documents there.  On my PC I created a new folder and populated it with some PDFs.  On the Dropbox ap...
Mobile
Setting up the apps
  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    7 years ago
    Hey MikeA01730, thanks for your cooperation, I’m just updating the thread here with the latest update from our team specialists, so as to have it for future reference. 
     
    When Offlining files, you may keep in mind that a yellow icon will appear next to them if they’ve been updated in the meantime, as Norah mentioned above. Once you click on this, it will then update the file to the most recent version and make the latest version available offline. In the event that the device isn’t connected to wifi/cellular data, you’ll need to wait until you have internet connectivity to download and view these files.
     
    I would suggest making sure that your offline files are up to date when you plan on using the offline files feature.
     
    Once again, thanks again for checking in with us on the Dropbox Forum & don’t hesitate to post away at any time in case you have further questions or you’d like to share your thoughts in the future. Take care! 
Safespace's avatar
Safespace
Explorer | Level 3
Hi files were not in shared folder. Her is the thing. Sometimes the offline files worth the exclamation mark work and sometimes they dont. Honestly I NEVER had issues in the past until u instituted the upgrade option to view folders offline. I never upgraded and I think that dropbox sabotaging basic memberships.
Jane's avatar
Jane
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
6 years ago

Thanks to both for getting back in touch with all these observations Safespace & Terry P.! 

While I can make sure to add your voice to the feedback we’re gathering on the Community on my end, I’m wondering if Offlining content is now working as expected for you. If you notice that something isn’t performing as it should or you have any additional concerns, please let me know here, as it’s my understanding that you’re no longer facing the issue previously discussed.
 
That said, kindly note that the feature should work regardless of your subscription when it comes to files, however only paid users should be able to save folders for offline viewing Safespace. 
 
I’m always here, let me know if you have any follow-up inquiries & I'll make sure to check back soon! 
  • Terry P.'s avatar
    Terry P.
    Collaborator | Level 10
    6 years ago

    Hi Jane,

    I'm not sure if it is working 'correctly' in your terms. It's not in mine!

    Perhaps the following will help you to give me a definitive answer please.

    Two days ago I opened one of the ten 'offline' folders (green arrow icon) in my (up to date) iPad Dropbox app. This large folder called \User Guides had the yellow exclamation icon. I then scrolled down through its sub-folders, looking for those yellow 'Refresh to update' icons. I successively opened these (and any sub-folders within them) and opened (refreshed) all files with the yellow icon. That tedious exercise took me about two hours!

    Was that the correct procedure in your view? IOW, do I (a Pro user) have to refresh every single yellow icon file in every single yellow icon folder, at all levels? I would expect that I should to be able to refresh an entire folder automatically, i.e. the program should recursively find and refresh the offline status of all necessary files when the top level yellow icon folder is opened.

    This lack of recursive processing is a major issue for me, and I assume for many users with large folders. (\User Guides is 1.1 GB, 4,149 files in 177 folders.)

    There is another reason why I think the offline facility is not "... performing as it should." Why did I have to refresh all these files anyway? I had never manually changed them! All had been under \Dropbox for years or many months. And the Dropbox app has been opened many times in the days, weeks and months before that exercise yesterday, on both my PC and my iPad. So they should have been automatically updated.

    Terry, East Grinstead, UK

    • Jane's avatar
      Jane
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      6 years ago

      Thanks for detailing me your thoughts on this discussion Terry P. & apologies for the tardy reply on my end; I’ve now made sure to include your follow-up observations on the open ticket you have with our team specialist!

      • David F.83's avatar
        David F.83
        New member | Level 2
        5 years ago

        Has this question of sub folders not refreshing when the parent folder is refreshed been resolved?  Its happening to me and  it's incredibly frustrating. 

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