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Pansy L.
3 years agoHelpful | Level 5
Camera Upload thumbnail not showing on mac
I use Smart Sync
I'm on a Macbook Air Ventura 13.5.2
I know SmartSync doesn't download the files to your laptop but I'm pretty sure I used to get low-res thumbnails of the images in my Camera Upload folder
Since updating to the newest OS that seems to not work anymore and I just see the generic icons now.
If I "make it available offline" then it downloads the image and the thumbnail works but I'd love to have a low-res thumbnail so I can tell if I should download it or not.
Hi Pansy L., you need to specifically select the images or the folder with images, and then right click and 'Make available offline', give it time to download, and then right click again and 'Make online-only'.
42 Replies
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- Walter2 years ago
Dropbox Community Moderator
Thanks for the screenshot be-each - much appreciated.
While virtual machines are not officially supported, could you elaborate a tad on your workflow to see if we can advise further?
As for the issue at hand, can you clarify if you notice this on files that are online-only or available offline on your computer? Can you send us a screenshot perhaps so that we can check their syncing icons?
- be-each2 years agoHelpful | Level 6
Hi Nancy, see screenshot below.
I have not upgraded DB to the new API, if that is why I am having this sync issue.
I need to find out how this affects access to Dropbox on my VM under Parallels. VM needs to be well-integrated with DB for certain software to run and I do not want to duplicate these Dropbox files on my VM. I'd rather not use Camera Upload, but in the end I may need to find another solution altogether.
Why can you not view the screen recording? It looks like it was deleted?

- Nancy2 years ago
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hi from me as well, be-each! Can you send me a screenshot of the default sync settings you have under your Sync tab here, so that I can take a look? I’m unable to access the screen recording you sent us above, unfortunately.
- be-each2 years agoHelpful | Level 6
Hi Hannah
I have macOS version 13.7.1 (22H221)
Dropbox is 211.4.6008 (up to date)
Dropbox is located at /Users/myusername/Dropbox
Looking forward to your reply!
- craftyweeks2 years agoNew member | Level 2
I'm still having the issue as well -
211.4.6008 Dropbox Version
14.6.1 MacOS
Folder Location - users/MYNAME/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox
- Hannah2 years ago
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hey be-each, thanks for your nudge on this.
Can you let us know a bit more about your setup? What's your macOS version?
Also, if you hover over the Dropbox icon in your menu bar, what's the Dropbox version and sync status of the app?
And lastly, if you go to the "sync" tab in your preferences, what's the location of your Dropbox folder?
- be-each2 years agoHelpful | Level 6
I have made a screen recording of what is happening. Notice how first the column "Date last opened" is populated the moment Preview app starts opening these files, and then the file size column is populated with the file sizes after they have been downloaded.
[link removed]
- be-each2 years agoHelpful | Level 6
Hello Jay,
I am having the same issue as reported many times by others, and I explained the details in another thread (after previewing the zero bytes files in the Preview app on Mac, the files are downloaded). This is not a Smartsync issue and this is not a slow syncing issue. The uploaded files were completely and fully downloaded and visible to my Windows system in a matter of minutes, and my Macbook shows zero byte files. There is something wrong with Dropbox syncing to macbooks, obviously. We all are reporting about Macbooks here, and Dropbox is the common denominator. It's not our macbooks and not our sync settings. I have used Dropsync app for years to selectively upload my photos from Android to Dropbox manually after editing these images on my device. This is the first time I am using Camera Uploads feature and this is the first time I am seeing this zero bytes issue. I have as default setting to make all files available offline on both my Windows and Macbook. All works as expected on Windows, but not on my Mac. Please address this correctly on your end.
- be-each2 years agoHelpful | Level 6
I am afraid this is a dropbox-mac issue. I just started using Camera Uploads for the first time for my new iPhone. All images were completely uploaded to Dropbox and then downloaded to both my Window 10 system and my Macbook, both with default setting to make all files available offline in the DB settings for each device. The images were fully downloaded to Windows but on my Macbook they show as zero bytes files without a preview. When I click on a file, it appears to download it and I can view it, a little later the size is updated in Finder, and then (maybe) another while later a thumbnail is generated. This means that Dropbox is not correctly downloading/syncing the files to my Macbook, while it does it fine on Windows. The column "Date last opened" in finder does not show any info, but I can select 20 files and open them in the Preview app. They then are downloaded and for all those selected files, the "Date last opened" column shows the same time stamp of that moment. Obviously, Dropbox is not correctly downloading these files to my macbook, or treats them as offline files despite my settings.
Could you please have a look what might be wrong here?
- ajtouchstone2 years agoNew member | Level 2
This problem is happening on both my macOS computers. Latest software of everything. Nothing I can do makes it display thumbnails anymore. Super frustrating! And I am a paying Dropbox subscriber.
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