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Can't open any files from my Android phone
I got a new Android phone about three weeks ago. When I accessed my Dropbox files, I was able to open some and not others. Now I am unable to open any files on the phone. Instead, I receive this message: "This file can't be previewed. To open this file, try a computer or another app." They will not download, export, or be made available offline. However, I can open all the same files on my desktop computer with no problems. I also tried connecting to my Android Dropbox to my desktop Dropbox and starred the item to see if that would help. Still no success. Why can't I open the files on my phone? Thank you for your help.
It seems like the device itself isn't allowing the Dropbox app to access the internet to download files.
There is a possibility that a proxy, VPN, firewall, security software, or even ISP/router issues could be restricting traffic to the following Dropbox domains.
I'd recommend checking all of these possibilities, and try connecting to a different WiFi network, or use cellular data, to see if there is any difference.
33 Replies
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- I have tried that, but the download progress never advances from 0.0%, and when the downward-pointing arrow finally appears next to the document name, I am still unable to preview the file.
- Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
It seems like the device itself isn't allowing the Dropbox app to access the internet to download files.
There is a possibility that a proxy, VPN, firewall, security software, or even ISP/router issues could be restricting traffic to the following Dropbox domains.
I'd recommend checking all of these possibilities, and try connecting to a different WiFi network, or use cellular data, to see if there is any difference. - Thank you! Switching from Wi-Fi to my mobile network did the trick immediately! I will have to investigate the issue with my Wi-Fi to see what is going on.
- Can't open .txt files created before by my smartphone of Samsung Note 10.
Even updated my dropbox but the problem still exists.
Needed to select account to open the txt files and spent much much time to open. - I'm using app. Will try to offline mode and see anythings becoming normal. Thx
- I switched to mobile data and i still can't preview a 760mb excel file from an android phone. The same file can be previewed from dropbox in iOS (and computer) so it is not corrupted. I can open other excel files on my android. Any help would be appreciated.
- Megan
Hi vinceortega, happy Monday!
Do you get any specific errors when you try to preview that file? Are you using the mobile app, or accessing Dropbox directly using the browser on your phone?
Let me know more!
- Hi Megan, it is just a blank screen using the Android mobile app. I haven’t tried the web browser yet. I have deleted and re-installed the app already and got the same behavior.
- Hannah
Sorry to jump in here, vinceortega!
Does the whole screen go blank when you open the file, or does the file itself appear to be empty, as if it has no contents?
Have you tried clearing the cache from the app's settings, to see if that makes any difference?
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