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johnrinek's avatar
johnrinek
Helpful | Level 6
3 years ago

Syncing icons on the files in the Dropbox folder have changed

Hello The Finder Extension Icons indicating whether a file or folder is Online Only or Available Offline are showing up in my Finder, however, the statuses are incorrect. For instance a folder that ...
Desktop
desktop app
GUI
Sync and upload
Syncing
Rua's avatar
Rua
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
Hi everyone,
 
Thank you for the feedback. It’s helpful for us to understand how this change impacts your workflows.
 
We acknowledge that what the sync icons mean, for folders in particular, is the main source of confusion and frustration for many people in this thread. We want to assure you that our Product and Design teams hear your feedback.
 
 

Why did we make this change?

 

 

This change aligns with updated Windows and macOS design patterns, UI guidelines and security best practices.
 
Additionally, online-only files will become commonplace for most Dropbox app users. If extra space is required on your hard drive, the Dropbox desktop app or the OS may automatically convert your files to online-only. For this reason, we thought it would be important for users to quickly identify which files may automatically become online-only. In other words, files that are available offline will never be moved automatically by our app or the OS to online-only. Files in an available state can be automatically moved to online-only if you are running out of hard drive space.
 
 

What do the icons mean?

 

This Help Center article gives an overview of what each sync icon means.
However, let’s look more in depth into what the sync icons mean for folders:
 
 
Available offline

 

 
This means that all the files/folders contained within the folder:
  • have the state available offline
  • are stored on your PC/Mac and on dropbox.com
  • are fully synced
  • cannot be moved automatically to online-only (of course you can manually make the folder online-only)
 
 
Available

 

This means that:
  • at least 1 file/folder contained within the folder has the available state
  • there are 0 files/folders contained within the folder that have the online-only state
  • files/folders within the folder can have the available offline state
  • files/folders within the folder are stored on PC/Mac and on dropbox.com
  • files/folders within the folder are fully synced
  • depending on state, files can be automatically moved to online-only if you are running out of hard drive space
 
 
Online-only

 

This means that:
  • at least 1 file/folder contained within the folder has the online-only state
  • files/folders within the folder can have the available offline or available state
  • files/folders within the folder are fully synced
  • depending on state, files can be automatically moved to online-only if required
 
Thanks again for your feedback on this.
ppadmin's avatar
ppadmin
Collaborator | Level 8
3 years ago

And we acknowledge that what the sync icons mean, and we're saying is that this was a completely unnecessary, useless, not completely though out change that does noting to improve the usability of the service, and in fact makes it more confusing and less intuitive. Sometimes the Product and Design teams get it wrong. Can they just take the L on this one and change it back?

 

 

  • William F.5's avatar
    William F.5
    Helpful | Level 6
    3 years ago

    Here's the latest reply from Dropbox:

     

    Dear customer,

     

    Are you an idiot? The new system could not be simpler.

     

    A green icon means A, B, C, or D. And sometimes E.

     

    A gray icon means F, G, or H. Except when it means I. (Please see attached schedule of icons for additional details.)

     

    A white icon means J, K, L, or M. Basically, it's for folders that are a mixture of online and offline. Except sometimes white icons are arbitrarily attached to individual files. This means either that the file itself is a mixture of online and offline, or that it was synced using a different means than a file with a green icon. If you synced your file over Wifi, it will appear green; if you used LAN, then it will be white. (This may vary depending on your OS, so please see attached schedule.)

     

    Like I said, the system is staggeringly simple, and you are a pathetic dolt for not understanding it. If you were smarter, you would like the new system.

     

    To follow up with customer service, please navigate our nonexistent customer service page.

     

    Sincerely,
    Dropbox

  • arigoldfilms's avatar
    arigoldfilms
    Collaborator | Level 10
    3 years ago
    The callous disregard for the customer is truly staggering. Because of having an entire team on Dropbox, I am sluggish in moving our whole business elsewhere until the end of the year, but I look forward to people sharing their notes about which services they recommend. Has everyone going public with their complaints to dropbox and @dropboxbusiness and @dropboxsupport and ceo drewhouston on Twitter as well?
  • ppadmin's avatar
    ppadmin
    Collaborator | Level 8
    3 years ago

    William F.5 Ummm, did you even look at the icon reference sheet? Everyone knows that means the folder synced on a Monday. Come on, be smarter.

  • William F.5's avatar
    William F.5
    Helpful | Level 6
    3 years ago

    Actually, it's even more complicated that this, because I have FOLDERS that consist entirely of local files but for some reason have a white icon.

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