I'm having an issue opening the videos I've downloaded from Dropbox on my phone & desktop.

[Mickeymouse1]

I have dropbox on my phone and computer. I am not able to open any old videos or current videos.  I am getting a message " can't play, choose something else, this item is in a format we don't suport".

My old videos were opening up and now they aren't.

What has changed and how can I fix this?

[Mark · Accepted solution]

You need to make sure you have a program on your computer that can open them. Thats nothing to do with Dropbox I'm afraid.

I suggest trying VLC player.

[Mickeymouse1]

They were opening a while ago and now they aren't.  I still have the same computer so why won't they open now?

[Mark]

Thats something to do with your computer Mickeymouse1 I'm afraid and not something I can answer 😞

You may be able to get more appropriate help on an suitable movie playing forum rather than Dropbox.

[Vernon · Accepted solution]

Hey Mickeymouse1,

To follow up on this, keep in mind that the Dropbox folder in your computer, acts in many ways like a normal folder, so the files you want to open - the videos in this case - will use the program you have installed for video previewing. Same goes with your mobile phone app.

The website is another thing, as it has certain filetypes that can be previewed. You can find a complete list here:https://www.dropbox.com/help/files-folders/file-types-that-preview

Hope this helps!

[njdjninja]

all the videos in my dropbox will open and they all use the same player but this one won't open with that same player. It was made with the same program as the others. Why won't it open?

[Walter]

Hey there @njdjninja - Welcome to our Community and thanks for posting your question here.

Can you make sure you have not tampered with the file's extension?

If for example you upload a .mov file, the name of the file has to end in .mov for other applications/programs to recognize and be able to open it normally.  Is it possible that you renamed this file and removed its extension somehow?

If this is not the case, please provide as much info as possible in order to have a better look into it. Few things to check here would be the file's size, type and if you are able to open it on another device or even preview it on the web. 

I hope this information helps and please let me know what you find.

[This thread is now closed by moderators due to inactivity. If you're experiencing a similar behavior, feel free to Ask help from the Community here.]