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meganh32's avatar
meganh32
Helpful | Level 5
3 years ago

How to view previews of online-only files on desktop (like how you can in the mobile app)? - macOS

I'm trying to figure out how to see previews, specifically of .jpeg online files, on my mac desktop. I use Dropbox almost exclusively for photo management and it's frustrating not even being able to ...
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G R A N T's avatar
G R A N T
Helpful | Level 5
3 years ago

AGREED. not being able to utilize the thumbnail previews in Finder makes using Dropbox inefficient. Looking for a solution from DB or may have to switch service or solutions. Thanks. g

Walter's avatar
Walter
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
3 years ago

Hi G R A N T,  sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

 

Could you please let us know some additional information so that we can look into this further?

 

For example, what is your computer's exact OS version and the version of the Dropbox desktop app installed there as well?

 

Any additional information is more than welcome! 

  • tonyfelicepr's avatar
    tonyfelicepr
    Helpful | Level 5
    3 years ago

    Hi there, I'm running 13.5.2 (22G91) OS on a Mac Studio (2022) - Chip is Apple M1 Max with 64Gigs of memory.

     

    Using finder, it is not possible to see a thumbnail image of anything stored online. Dropbox's response that only locally stored files can be seen is problematic. It is not feasible for us to carry 1TB on all computers just to see an thumbnail icon for files. 

     

    This also affects *some files stored locally that have to be clicked or previewed to populate a thumbnail.

     

    It is a good feature for Dropbox to create that populates a thumbnail from files stored online-only. It makes searching for and retrieving creative documents extremely difficult. 

     

    Creative agencies, engineering firms, and those who rely on graphic images really need to be able to see thumbnails in the Mac Finder App. Or a compatible finder could be created by you that serves that purpose - again icon views of thumbnails is essential.

     

    This used to exist years ago, based on my recollection. It was never a problem until about three or four years ago.

     

    Thanks.

  • G R A N T's avatar
    G R A N T
    Helpful | Level 5
    3 years ago

    Hello Walter I tried running the beta version you noted above in an earlier post. It looks like the Beta will allow for Finder to display thumbnails of image files and PDFs. This is a big improvement. I hope this fix in beta remains in the next permanent version. Thanks. G

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