Spotlight and Search function of Dropbox can't search contents in Numbers file.

[kenny100]

Hi, 

Spotlight and Search function of Dropbox doesn't seem to be working fine.

They can't search contents in Numbers file.

For example, one of my Numbers files has "123-4567" content located in Drop box folder. 

If we tried to search "123-4567" through Spotlight or Search function of Dropbox app on Mac we can get nothing for it. 

It is very odd. Once we open and close that file that has "123-4567" they can be found through spotlight and dropbox. But if you reboot your Mac it can't be found. 

It is very serious problem for us. Please check this problem and give us solution.

[Mark · Accepted solution]

Dropbox shouldnt be altering spotlight at all - as it has no way of doing so, its an Apple feature.

Does the same happen to files outside of the Dropbox folder or if Dropbox is not running?

[robint02]

I have the same problem, and suspect it may be a smart sync issue. It's possible Dropbox may have made certain files and/or folder Online Only so that Spotlight can't see them. Can someone please look into this and suggest a solution?

[Jay]

Hi @robint02, thanks for messaging the Community!

If the file you're trying to search is online-only, then Spotlight wouldn't be able to search it as there won't be any content in the placeholder.

If you're experiencing this while the file is marked as local, and has a green tick on it in Finder, please let me know!

[Christopher Z.2]

I'm having the same issue since upgrading to Mac OS. 11.1. Even if I put in an exact name for a local file that is not online it won't find the file.  Outside of the Dropbox folder the search function works fine.  Another odd thing while doing the search in the Dropbox folder I get no spinning activity wheel in the bottom right corner of the finder window, as I do in a non Dropbox folder.  Any suggestions??

[Lusil]

Hi there @Christopher Z.2, thanks for nudging us here. 

Have you tried reindexing your Spotlight by any chance? Maybe that will do the trick. 

Do you also get the same behavior when you search for files using the desktop app?

[Krisias]

Hi Jay.

I disagree with this comment as my MacBook Spotlight can search DropBox and return results of files that are online only. However, another user that has the same MacBook software, and Dropbox access is unable to search Dropbox for any files at all, online or downloaded, but he can search the local mac without any issues. If anyone since this original post does have a solution, I would be grateful.

[MarkBarLev]

I'm having the same issue after the recent update of Dropbox and files were moved to the folder with my name on it even though it's a shared folder. I've contacted Dropbox support and they are looking into it. It's super annoying.

[Walter]

Hey @MarkBarLev, sorry to hear about this.

Could you share your ticket ID with us so that we can look it up in our system?

[MarkBarLev]

Outside of Dropbox works fine. I know it shouldn't be doing anything related to spotlight, but since the most recent big update, I can't search those files.