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Lori S's avatar
Lori S
New member | Level 2
5 years ago
Solved

Can't open files in desktop app

I can see all my files but none of them will open in my desktop app. I restarted my laptop and that didn't work. Now I'm trying to uninstall the app and it won't uninstall. Any suggestions?
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  • Lori S's avatar
    Lori S
    5 years ago

    Hi Walter! Thanks for responding. I wasn't getting any error messages at all. Just, nothing happened when I tried to open a file. I finally uninstalled and reinstalled the app and it's working now.

RGAtn's avatar
RGAtn
Explorer | Level 3
5 years ago

I haven't used my Dropbox for a while, many of the files are MS Office files from 2012-14 (Word, Excel, PPT, etc).  Others are .jpg and DSCN photos.  The files are all displayed, but I can't open any of them.  The message says "cannot open, doesn't recognize file, may have been corrupted, etc".  Is this a file version problem, or what?  How can I recover these files?

Lusil's avatar
Lusil
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
5 years ago
Hey RGAtn, thanks for nudging us here. 

Could you send us a screenshot of the error message?

Have the files you're trying to open fully synced locally?
  • RGAtn's avatar
    RGAtn
    Explorer | Level 3
    5 years ago
    The files are only in Dropbox, they are not on the desktop computer. That’s what I ‘m trying to do, is transfer them to a new desktop machine
    • Walter's avatar
      Walter
      Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
      5 years ago
      In that case, did you follow the steps outlined here?

      If so, can you confirm that the app is fully synced and showing 'up to date' in your menu bar/system tray?

      Thanks for any updates RGAtn!
      • GHiggins's avatar
        GHiggins
        Explorer | Level 3
        4 years ago

         Trying to open a PDF

         Trying to open image.

        My app is synced and I'm able to open these files when navigating to the dropbox website. Here is the appearance of several files in the Windows Explorer page:

        I've restarted my machine. I do not want to uninstall and reinstall the application as it will take hours to resync all my files. 

         

        Any help is much appreciated.

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