Unknown error occurred while accessing anything on Dropbox

[VikingPadre]

Hundreds of files stored in Dropbox, and now I get this "Unknown error occurred while accessing <filename>" message when I try to open any of them.  Guess I'll have to start using my hard drive to backup my Dropbox files.  [Profanity removed as per Community Guidelines]

[Jay]

Hi @VikingPadre, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Are you seeing this behavior on the Dropbox site directly, or via the mobile app?

Are you accessing Dropbox via a stable WiFi network, or via cellular data?

This will help me to assist further!

[VikingPadre]

Accessing files on Dropbox over a stable secure WiFi connection, through Windows File Manager or through a hyperlink in an Excel spreadsheet.  In File Manager, if the file shows a check mark in a green dot, the file opens properly.  But if the file shows a cloud in a gray dot (which is by far the majority), I get an error message trying to open it.  The error message is different depending on whether it is a PDF or JPG file.

Yesterday I tried opening files from my phone, and the files that gave me error messages on my laptop opened just fine from my phone.  That tells me that the files themselves are not corrupted, and suggests there's something in the laptop setup.  But those files used to open with my laptop.  And I need them to open with my laptop, because all I can do with them on my phone is view them.

[Jay]

The mobile app doesn't store files on it, unless you mark files as offline there, so they just download from the site each.

Are you getting the preview error when opening the files with a green icon or the cloud icon, or for both of them?

[VikingPadre]

Not sure what you're saying re: the mobile app not storing files, but downloading each.  The point?

"Preview error"?  The error happens when I try to open -- not preview -- files on my laptop.

As I said, files with the green check mark open on my laptop just fine, but files with the gray cloud do not open on the laptop, they produce an error message.  But all of them open fine on my phone.

Both my phone and my laptop are on my home WiFi when I am at home.

[Jay]

Could you try quitting the app and rebooting the computer to see if this helps?

[VikingPadre]

Are you kidding?  You think I haven't shut down and restarted my laptop multiple times since Dropbox started trashing my files?

[Megan]

Hi @VikingPadre, does this behavior happen with all the files in your Dropbox folder, using a cloud icon?

Also, I would like for you to locate your Dropbox icon on your task bar, next to your WiFi and hover your mouse there. That should give you the version of the app, could you pass it on to me? 

[VikingPadre]

Hi, Megan,

Well, I don't know what's going on.  I spent most of the day working in those directories.  The cloud icon was replaced with a gray "X", and none of those files would open (PDFs and jpegs).  Not all the files were bad (had the gray "X" and gave errors when I tried to open them), but it was the majority of them, say two-thirds to three-fourths of them.  Now, I was accessing (or attempting to access) the files through Windows File Manager or through my mail client, not through the Dropbox app (version 170.4.5895).  I did start up the app, and saw File Manager doing what looked like a refresh, and now all the file icons are document previews or have green checkmarks and there are no gray "X" marks.  I thought that when I accessed the files through the Dropbox folder in File Manager, that would use Dropbox to open the files.  Is that not the case?  I always had the Task Bar icon next to the WiFi icon, so I assumed Dropbox was running in the background.  Not so?  Do I need to run the app?

At any rate, at this moment everything looks good.  I don't know why, and I have little faith that it won't revert to gray "X" marks and error messages later.  And I don't know why I could view all those files from my phone even when I got error messages on the same files from my laptop.  That does suggest the issue was with my laptop, and not with the files themselves.  Unfortunately, I couldn't work with them on my phone, only view them.

[Hannah]

Thanks for the update here, @VikingPadre.

I'm glad to see that everything is okay now.

If this issue returns, try to right-click on the files and choose "make available offline". That should allow you to open the files without issues.

See you around the Community!