Files Shared Between Computers; "Make available offline" & "Make online-only"

[astokesmusic]

Hello all. I'm a music producer and I work between two different Mac computers (a Mac mini desktop setup and a MacBook Pro for when I'm on the go). I'm currently using a folder inside of Dropbox to store all of my DAW song files (DAW stands for "Digital Audio Workstation"; it is the software I use to produce my music and save those song files into Dropbox). 

I've been confused about something concerning the way Dropbox handles the relationship of my song files between computers. I tried putting all of my song files in "Make online-only" mode. At first, I thought this would work, but I ran into an issue with my production software. Recently, the software started notifying me that many of my song files are either broken or unreadable. I studied about this online a bit and I believe it has something to do with the files being set to "Make online-only" in Dropbox. I really wanted to keep the files online and work that way if possible, so that I could save some internal drive storage on both of my Macs, but I've realized now that I probably can't do that and I'll need to set both of my Macs to make files in Dropbox "available offline." 

That said, I need some clarification on what will happen if I work this way... When I work on files set to "Make available offline" mode, I'm aware that these files are being stored in the internal storage of each of my Macs, correct? I'd prefer to not have to take up too much internal storage, but I can live with it if that's what will have to happen to keep the files readable to my software..

ALSO... This is my biggest concern... Since it looks like I will have to work in "Make available offline" mode, when I make updates to a song file on one computer, will both computers still automatically update, like when I was working in "Make online-only" mode? This is a crucial aspect of my workflow that I'll be needing because if I'm out of town working on several songs at a time on my MacBook Pro, I need the song files to be updated back at home on my desktop Mac as well. 

Thank you for reading and I hope I can get some advice on this because it would really help me fix my workflow.

[Walter]

Hi there @astokesmusic, thanks for joining the Community and thanks for your elaborate report. 

I'm afraid you're correct on your assumption that you'll need to work on files that you've already made available offline on your computer(s) since the software you're using seems to be having issues with the online only files (since these are placeholders and not the actual files containing all the data). 

And yes, your files should update as normal, as long as you have the Dropbox desktop app running on both computers. 

I know it's not optimal, but I hope this helps! 

[astokesmusic]

@Walter Ahh, okay thank you for clarifying this for me. So are you saying that if I have the Dropbox Desktop app running on both computers with “Make available offline” mode set on both, and I make some edits to a music session file on one of those computers it will not only update that offline file to the computer I’m on, but it will also update the same file on my other computer? How does this work if I’m working offline and things aren’t being updated in a shared way through the internet?

Also, am I right that everything will have to be stored in internal storage of both my computers?

[Rich]

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@astokesmusic wrote:
... I make some edits to a music session file on one of those computers it will not only update that offline file to the computer I’m on, but it will also update the same file on my other computer?

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Yes. Any changes you make to the files in your Dropbox folder will first sync to your account, then they will sync down to any other devices you have connected.

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How does this work if I’m working offline and things aren’t being updated in a shared way through the internet?

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Setting a file as Available Offline doesn't mean you're working offline. It means the file exists in the Dropbox folder on your local drive and will still be available IF you were working offline (disconnected from the Internet). Now, if you actually are working offline (disconnected from the Internet) and you make changes to a file in your local Dropbox, as soon as you connect to the Internet again, Dropbox will start to sync any changes that it has.

If a file is set as Online-only, the file doesn't exist on your local drive. The only thing there is a placeholder file. If you try to open an online-only file while you're connected to the Internet it should be downloaded automatically. I say should because some applications (as you've noticed) don't work well with Online-only files and will say they're damaged or corrupt. This is usually because the program isn't waiting for the file to download before opening it, so it ends up opening the placeholder file. In those cases, you need to mark the file as Available Offline, allow it to sync and then open it. When you're done with the file you can mark is as Online-only again.

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Also, am I right that everything will have to be stored in internal storage of both my computers?

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If the application won't open a file that's marked as Online-only, then yes, you'll need to have all files marked as Available Offline. You can't open a file directly from the Dropbox servers. Either it's Online-only and gets temporarily downloaded so you can open it, or it's Available Offline and you can just open it without waiting for it to download.

[astokesmusic]

@Rich Ahh I see, thank you! So.. I’d like to stay away from having to do a lot of manual setting changes between “make available offline” and “make online-only.” That said, if I just make everything available offline on both computers, Dropbox will automatically update changes made on one computer to another in terms of both of their “available offline” files, correct? Therefore, I don’t have to go in and manually change files one at a time from “online-only” to “available offline” and back to “online-only” after I’ve completed some work?

[Hannah]

Hey @astokesmusic, you are correct in this as well.

As long as your files are set to available offline and the Dropbox application is running on both computers, your changes will sync and you won't have to manually change their state from offline to online-only or vice versa.

The downside is that your files will take up space on your computer, but you won't have any issues otherwise.

[Maester]

Hey! I’m in the same situation, although currently using a Windows 11 PC and a newly purchased MacBook Air M3 until I can save up for a Mac Studio.

I have a "Working" folder that I’ve been manually copying to a USB drive to work on projects off my Air at school and other places. It’s risky, slow (around 20GB), and not using the power of my Mac.

I’m considering using Dropbox as a "digital USB," but I’m concerned about potential sync issues. For example, what if I save a project on my Air, wait for it to sync, but my PC doesn’t get the updated version and loads an older cached version instead? Or what if the new version gets stuck in the cloud? This could cause the files to be out of sync, maybe get overwritten, and lost?

I'm new to this completely, really confident with tech in general but have no experience with working off the cloud.

I know I'll have to be careful and always checking up on how it's syncing, but how concerned should I be? What's the likelihood of failure? Anything specific I should do to reduce risks?

To recap I want to work off my PC (soon to be Mac Studio) on some DAW projects, then be able to go to my Air and work off them as well. Then back to the PC. This would be pretty frequent changes, almost, if not daily.

I know I'm asking a lot but I'm sure its possible in one way or another.

Thanks!