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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
How can I downgrade to the last version that worked properly? I don’t want this new version in cloud storage library folder I want it the way it was before
I just upgraded to new Dropbox version and search appears to be screwed. I can see my files, I can open them no problem. But if I enter *ANY* search criteria in Finder, I get empty results.
To add insult to injury, I tried reaching out to Dropbox chat support and I am told that it is an Apple problem.
Needless to say this is totally unacceptable. If anyone from Dropbox support is reading this, then please address this immediately. Otherwise I'm thru with Dropbox.
- Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Hey eheilner, since the Dropbox folder was moved to a new location, it needs to be re-indexed.
Can you please open the Dropbox folder, wait a little bit and then retry the search, to see if it works?
If not, you might need to re-index the entire disk.
Note: The article mentions the 'Documents' folder, but you need to use the 'Dropbox' folder instead.
Hi Hannah,
Thank you for the prompt reply. I tried your suggestion and re-indexed the Dropbox folder, but no luck. Search is broken.
In fact, if you look here: https://help.dropbox.com/installs/macos-support-for-expected-changes it specifically states that "Searching through Finder will only find online-only files or folders that have been previously accessed on your device running Dropbox for macOS."
Needless to say, this is completely and totally unacceptable, Search is a core function of any modern operating system.
Can you please make the older version of Dropbox available until such time as this is fixed. I hope this will be fixed, since otherwise I will need to find an alternate solution.
Thank you for your time and attention to this matter.
Yeah, what you need to know is that Hannah is offering the official solution offered by DropBox and it does nothing, zero, has not fixed the problem for anyone. This is DB's biggest fiasco yet.l
Your solution doesn't work. This is a failed solution being offered to everyone right now by DropBox help.
Adding then subtracting ( +/- ) the main DropBox folder from the Spotlight utility does nothing.
But here is something that does: using this method on the actual Macintosh HD.
I had to rebuild my entire MacBook Pro from scratch, and there's not a chance I will upgrade again or take that MacOS update.
DropBox: ten years ago, was my favorite software solution of ALL time. Ten years later: just a disaster at every turn.
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."
