cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Announcements
We are making some updates so the Community might be down for a few hours on Monday the 11th of November. Apologies for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience. You can find out more here.

View, download, and export

Need support with viewing, downloading, and exporting files and folders from your Dropbox account? Find help from the Dropbox Community.

cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

Re: Key Command/Shortcut to "Copy Dropbox Link" from Mac Finder.

Key Command/Shortcut to "Copy Dropbox Link" from Mac Finder.

Justin P.2
Collaborator | Level 10
Go to solution

I copy download links all day from the Mac Finder. It would be great to assign a key command so that you can highlight a file in your Dropbox via Mac Finder, and press a key command to copy the link instead of right clicking.

67 Replies 67

mbiaso
Explorer | Level 4
Go to solution

would anyone help me to make it work? please? I've done almost all steps but am stacked now...it did not finds the py file on the bin folder...I'm not sure it there to be fair. hahaha

Gene_Parmesan
Collaborator | Level 8
Go to solution

Yes, you have to put the script in a bin folder in your home directory. Follow the instructions in the comment below the script to get it set up.

Gene_Parmesan
Collaborator | Level 8
Go to solution

Another alternative is to buy BetterTouchTool and assign the Trigger Context Menu Item action to a keyboard shortcut in Finder.

dhermanq
Helpful | Level 6
Go to solution

@Gene_Parmesan I've been using your script for a few months now and it's such a game changer — thank you!! I've noticed two quirks that I thought I'd share, in case you see any obvious solutions:

  • Running the script on a file that's still syncing to the Dropbox cloud sometimes returns the following API error: ApiError('540888ba9ce3415db11214e6da16949d', CreateSharedLinkError('path', LookupError('not_found', None))) I've noticed this happens more often with larger files (>500MB) What's interesting is that I can still use the finder contextual menu item "Create Dropbox Link" for the same file when the script isn't working.
  • When the script is working, it runs quite slowly. It usually takes 4-5 seconds to copy the link to the clipboard, whereas using the contextual menu item copies a link almost instantly. Any thoughts on how to speed this up? Would you guess that it's a function of response time from the Dropbox API, or something happening locally?

In any case, grateful to you for putting this together!

mbiaso
Explorer | Level 4
Go to solution

thanks! I'll try this!

 

mbiaso
Explorer | Level 4
Go to solution

the thing is, I'm trying to find a way where I don't need to point my mouse at the file....only the keyboard highlight wold be enough...

Gene_Parmesan
Collaborator | Level 8
Go to solution

I don't think it's possible to fix either problem, unfortunately @dhermanq. If the API can't find the file to create a shared link with (presumably because it's not yet fully uploaded), then that error makes sense. As to why it works when using the contextual menu item, I have no idea. Perhaps they're using another method which is unavailable to the Dropbox Python API. And the speed thing is unfortunate, but kind of comes with the territory of Automator/AppleScript. 😞

 

And @mbiaso you're right, I forgot that the BTT action uses the location of the cursor, not the Finder selection. You have to use Automator to get that, which means you're back using my script. So follow the setup instructions and hopefully it will work for you.

Luc-FJ
Helpful | Level 7
Go to solution

Would love this feature, think it will benefit al lot of workflows for people!

 

cooley
Explorer | Level 3
Go to solution

thank you, this is so handy!

Здравко
Legendary | Level 20
Go to solution

Hi @Gene_Parmesan,

Migrate your code to use refresh token (together with the access one). Otherwise your script users will need access token update by hands quite often. Also cache the access token and wipe out all calls not related to the link receiving to speed up the process (every call - meaningful or not - takes time).

Need more support?