Hi there. I am looking at a dropbox guide. It says 'To access a file that is stored with Smart Sync, team members can just double-click it and Dropbox quickly downloads and opens it on their computer. ' However, from the dropbox finder window, I need to right click on change smart sync from online only to local to open a file. I'm using a Mac. How can I get it so all I need to do is double click on the file to download it?

I have the same issue. I have two dropbox (one personal and one business through work) that I have installed on two computers (iMac at work, and MacBook at home). Double-clicking to download smart sync files works on my laptop, but not on my work computer. I also get an error message saying that I do not have permission to open the file. Both computers have Big Sur 11.6.

Hi all! For anyone affected by this, could you please try the steps outlined here and let me know if you notice any difference?

That seems to have worked, thank you.

I work on a team of 7 people, in which 5 people have issues with smart sync.I am one of the 2 where Smart sync behaves as expected: when you double click an online only file, it opens instantly. I use 3 computers and 2 Dropbox accounts (the business and the personal), and for me, it works as expected in all of them (Big Sur and Catalina OS systems. 2 computers connected by cable, one laptop by wi-fi. 2 of the computers are from the company, therefore with more security issues, one is a personal laptop). My other colleagues need to right click and select "local" before opening a file (they are using company macbooks and imacs). If they try to double click it, they will get an error message. (attached) This becomes incredibly annoying when working with Indesign documents that have hundreds of links inside. My colleagues need to go file by file clicking to make local (or make huge project folders (50gb plus) available local. We already contacted Dropbox support and the suggestion was to reinstall the app, then they closed the ticket.The IT department of our studio also tried all sorts of troubleshooting without success. we did all of these: logout dropbox, restart, login dropboxuninstall old dropbox with app cleanerinstall new dropboxtweak configurations of dropbox (activate and desativate extensions on mac permissions)uninstall indesigninstall older version of indesigninstall most recent version of indesign none of these steps solved anything. I read most of the posts on the forum with similar issues but couldn't find anything that worked.status on bar is all files up to date. can anybody help us with this incredibly annoying issue.thanks

Files Not Downloading With Double Click

33 Replies

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Hannah
Dropbox Community Moderator
5 years ago
Hey simonellery, thanks for posting and happy Monday!

Sometimes, when a file is very large and your internet connection isn't that good at the moment, the file won't be instantly downloaded with a double-click.

The workaround for this, is what you're already doing (right click> Smart sync> local).

Can you check your internet connection to make sure everything is okay?

Does this also happen with really small files?

Keep me posted.
simonellery
Helpful | Level 5
5 years ago
Thanks for this hannah. Hmm some files are less than 1mb. We have a great fibre internet coenction.
Hannah
Dropbox Community Moderator
5 years ago
Thanks for the update here!

So, what do you see when you double click on a file? Do you get any error messages?

If so, can you also send me a screenshot, so I can check it out?
simonellery
Helpful | Level 5
5 years ago
It seems to be miraculously working now haha. Thanks for your help 🙂
Hannah
Dropbox Community Moderator
5 years ago
Haha, perfect, I'm really happy to hear that!

If you need anything else, make sure to give us a shout! 🙂
daisuke_adachi
New member | Level 2
5 years ago
Hi there,

I am having a similar issue. When I double-click the file that is not local in the dropbox folder, I cannot open it. The symptom varies across file types, but here is a screenshot for the case when I try to open a csv file in Microsoft excel: It tries to get access grant, and when I click on Grant Access, I get the error message saying it cannot be accessed. Is there any fix on this issue?

Best,
Daisuke
daisuke_adachi
New member | Level 2
5 years ago
To follow up, a more simple example would be when I try to open a txt file. Here is the screenshot of the folder (so that you see that the file is in the crowd instead of local) and the error message.

Thanks!
rbdginc
Explorer | Level 4
5 years ago
Having the same issue here. Uninstalled/reinstalled the app, restarted, etc. No luck. Worked great for over a year. Working on an iMac Catalina OS.
cgravelm
New member | Level 2
5 years ago
I have the same issue. I have two dropbox (one personal and one business through work) that I have installed on two computers (iMac at work, and MacBook at home). Double-clicking to download smart sync files works on my laptop, but not on my work computer. I also get an error message saying that I do not have permission to open the file. Both computers have Big Sur 11.6.
tanaudel
Explorer | Level 4
5 years ago
I'm having the same problem. I'm on a MacBook Pro with Monterey. ANY file that's not stored locally I have to right click on and make local in order to open it. Even if it's small and the connection is great.