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Forum Discussion
Spotlight Search Doesn't Link to Files in Dropbox in macOS 13 Ventura
After upgrading to macOS Ventura, I was prompted to upgrade to "Dropbox for macOS 12". I proceeded with that, it moved my Dropbox folder to ~/Library/CloudStorage and confirmed all was successful. No...
- That’s the same problem I had. I solved it by doing a complete clean install of dropbox. You may not need to do all of this, but to be safe, in Dropbox settings Selective Sync uncheck all of your folders and wait for them to be removed from your Mac. Once that’s done, unlink your Mac from Dropbox preferences. You should see the Dropbox getting started screen. Quit Dropbox and move the app to the Trash. Remove all dropbox files from ~/Library being careful to look at the path name. Only remove things that are within a Dropbox parent folder. Look in library application support, and library preferences. Empty the Trash. Restart your Mac. Reinstall Dropbox from dropbox.com. Once reinstalled, to make things faster sync only one small folder and wait for the prompt that new Dropbox for macOS 12 is available. You should see the message within a few minutes of reinstalling Dropbox. Allow it to upgrade and migrate your files to the new location. Once that’s done you can then sync all your folders. Let your Mac index itself and the problem should be solved.
Okay.
So this discussion here started in last November. So many users here have complained about the changes.
The only way available to get Dropbox work as it was previously is, to uninstall, reinstall, then “keep it from being upgraded to the version for Ventura”.
I guess Dropbox engineers will not want to fix this issue.
I (or we) just want Dropbox guys announce either of “we are aware of the issue and trying to fix it”, or “it's the new specification and you'll have to accept this behaviour”. However, after three months since this thread initially opened, there is no such announcement from Dropbox.
I think I'll have to switch from Dropbox to other service(s) very soon.
kohji wrote:Okay.
So this discussion here started in last November. So many users here have complained about the changes.
The only way available to get Dropbox work as it was previously is, to uninstall, reinstall, then “keep it from being upgraded to the version for Ventura”.
I guess Dropbox engineers will not want to fix this issue.
I (or we) just want Dropbox guys announce either of “we are aware of the issue and trying to fix it”, or “it's the new specification and you'll have to accept this behaviour”. However, after three months since this thread initially opened, there is no such announcement from Dropbox.
I think I'll have to switch from Dropbox to other service(s) very soon.
I found the nice alternative to Spotlight by chance - it's “Raycast”.
When properly configured (allowing access to Desktop/Downloads/Dropbox folders etc.), it will do what I really miss with the new Dropbox + Spotlight combination: searching filenames and file contents through Raycast, Command+return showing the enclosing folder, etc., even from inside the newly located Dropbox folder.
The only shortcoming of Raycast I noticed so far is, because it has so many features (provided by various extensions), you'll need one more step (pressing return) to do File Search. But with this one keypress, everything is back to normal for me.
When properly configured (allowing access to Desktop/Downloads/Dropbox folders etc.), it will do what I really miss with the new Dropbox + Spotlight combination: searching filenames and file contents through Raycast, Command+return showing the enclosing folder, etc., even from inside the newly located Dropbox folder.
While configuring initial “permissions” on Raycast, this dialog popped up.
So, I am wondering, if it would be macOS Ventura, not Dropbox, that should be fixed.
If Spotlight could have access to files and folders managed by Dropbox, Spotlight would easily search files and folders under ~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox ...
Just to add my two cents that this issue is incredibly frustrating, though it does affect all kinds of cloud storage apps so not sure we should be specifically mad at Dropbox for not having an instant reaction time to it. I'm more mad at Apple for not caring about the consequences of shifting the location of the files.
But I'm more particularly writing to say there is a different workaround than I've seen mentioned in this thread (well, the first and last couple of pages that I perused when doing a deep dive on this issue this afternoon). You can simply use the native search from within the Dropbox desktop app (taskbar icon > search icon). Yes, it is one more click; yes, it requires changing your behavior; but for now I have found this the most feasible thing. (With my box-checking personality, there's no way I can install an older version of Dropbox and bear the constant "do you want to update?" proddings.)
Gave up waiting for a solution for the spotlight problems. Moved everything to iCloud Drive. Works perfectly
