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
What is going on with Dropbox on MacOS? Spotlight and Finder don't work!!
Dropbox randomly updated to some new version and said everything is moving to Library/CloudStorage or something like that,
now I can't open files directly in Spotlight OR find using folder search i...
Hi Jay,
Finally after 7 months of basically not being able to use my laptop I found the solution in another thread.
I have managed to fix this. (For reference, I have tried re-indexing Spotlight using command line, and does not work).
- Open System Preferences and go to Spotlight's Privacy tab.
- Add the entire hard disk INTO the Privacy list.
- Maybe wait 30s.
- Remove the hard disk FROM the Privacy list.
@davidarden also posted the solution in another Dropbox thread: https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Create-upload-and-share/Dropbox-is-not-searchable-in-Mac-OS-Monterey-12-0-1/m-p/626720/highlight/true#M58591
This idea that you just need to let dropbox re-index on a Mac is just nonsense.
Finder and spotlight will find files on your mac, located in dropbox - but it will not allow you to search for files within the dropbox folder. So if you have sets of files and you just wish to search for the right one, within a subfolder you can't. You have to go through all hits on your harddrive and try find the one you want (in the folder you wanted to search). Its a complete mess and this is entirely down to 2 large companies behaving like children.
So please dropbox, as its your software that is incompatible with Apple products, fix this problem - including an easy option to remove dropbox from this new location on a mac.
Wow. So they never fixed it. Amazing.
I sent this to DB support today 16 September 2023 on twitter:
"Hi. After the Spring DropBox update did so much damage to my files on the MacBookPro M1, I had to rebuild my laptop and go back to a previous version of DropBox. I'm curious. Did you ever admit to the problem? And did you ever fix the problem? I've been a user since 2010, and I wouldn't dare update the software now. that's sad, considering what I pay each year for the subscription."
- Megan
Dropbox Staff
Hi Gregor M., let's jump right into this!
If I understand this correctly, it sounds like you're facing some issues with Spotlight, and Finder, is that right? If not, feel free to correct me, and let me know more.
Would you be able to share some details, or even screenshots of what is exactly happening on your end, along with the Dropbox version that you use, in order for me to have a clear visual?
Keep me posted!
I am having the same problems, no spotlight search with dropbox folders, wasting all kinds of time.
Thanks for responding. Historically, DropBox helpers have provided consistently wrong information. This added an extra layer to the disastrous DropBox update I experience this Spring, which forced me to entirely rebuild my entire laptop from scratch.
Here is what was particularly disturbing: thousands of DropBox users had this problem, and DropBox spent weeks if not months failing to even acknowledge it.
Not sure what to say. I have refused all DropBox updates on my MacBook Pro now for 7 months. Can't imagine trusting DropBox ever again.
Note: I am one of the oldest DB users, taking the app onto my devices many, many years ago.
