We are aware of the issue with the badge emails resending to everyone, we apologise for the inconvenience - learn more here.
Forum Discussion
Smart Sync and Quick Preview on Mac
Smart Sync causes my quick preview function (spacebar) to not function properly on my Mac. I can't preview thumbnails, or quick preview any videos or photos. Any ideas why this happens?
Likely because you're trying to preview a file that doesn't exist on your computer.
When you set a file to Online Only, the only thing that's left of that file on your computer is the necessary information to make it appear in the folder. Since there's no content in the file, your OS (nor any other program) is able to preview it.
Remember, when you set a file to Online Only, the file is removed from the computer leaving behind only a marker file. In order to access that file, whether it be to open and edit it or simply preview it, the file needs to be on the computer (Smart Sync doesn't allow you to open files directly from the Dropbox servers). When you open a file, it's synced back to your local drive and then opened as normal. When you're done with the file, if you want it to be online-only again, you need to mark it as such.
Dropbox support is literally the worst. I have been a paid user for many years but recently decided to downgrade to the "basic" plan without selective sync because of this.
Same here, only I downgraded to not being a paid user. If we can't get support, then obviously they don't want us as customers. Now my Mac is running so much better and I'm just using an NAS and cloud backup for less than I was spending on Dropbox.
- Jane
Dropbox Staff
Yeah, you kept telling me that if I completely turned off SmartSync, the files wouldn't show locally and then we could test whether they loaded correctly or not. But when I tried turning it off, following your instructions to the letter, nothing changed. The files still showed locally even though they definitely weren't on my hard drive. At that point, it did what it always does - quick look worked for a few minutes, and then I had to reset it every 5-6 times I used it. Which meant quite a few times an hour when I'm working.
Either Dropbox doesn't know how its own product works on Mac, or they're just not interested in providing support. Either way, I don't have time for endless troubleshooting that I sensed was just going to end like every other conversation on this forum: blaming the Mac OS. So I removed Dropbox completely. Now I'm saving lots of money, my computer runs much better, and my workflow is much faster.Yeah, you kept telling me that if I completely turned off SmartSync, the files wouldn't show locally and then we could test whether they loaded correctly or not. But when I tried turning it off, following your instructions to the letter, nothing changed. The files still showed locally even though they definitely weren't on my hard drive. At that point, it did what it always does - quick look worked for a few minutes, and then I had to reset it every 5-6 times I used it. Which meant quite a few times an hour when I'm working.
Either Dropbox doesn't know how its own product works on Mac, or they're just not interested in providing support. Either way, I don't have time for endless troubleshooting that I sensed was just going to end like every other conversation on this forum: blaming the Mac OS. So I removed Dropbox completely. Now I'm saving lots of money, my computer runs much better, and my workflow is much faster.
