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 see a preview so I can figure out which files I need to download locally (I just moved from an old computer that had enough storage to download everything offline to a new computer with much less storage so almost everything is online). I can do this on my android app. All of the online-only files on the mobile app are fully previewable and I can scroll through everything before deciding what to download. Is this possible on the desktop?

The response from DB appears to miss the crucial point, as the employee doesn't seem to fully grasp that our specific need isn't unique; it's a fundamental requirement for all content creators who rely on previews to identify files. It's our business we're worried about. Our concern isn't about DB continually improving its application and features. The current state of DB is a complete failure for us. We don't require an upgrade; we're simply unable to maintain baseline productivity. The absence of a clear timeline is incredibly frustrating. If this issue isn't resolved within weeks, not months, we're gone. I implore the DB community to explore alternative cloud options that cater to creative professionals and share your experiences with those of us suffering due to DB's prolonged negligence. I operate within the media industry, and once we identify a viable DB alternative for creative professionals, I will actively pump out some media release to promote articles and content that expose this DB failure and recommend the alternative solution.

luizfernandomiller that is such a ridiculously unspecific response, ohhh a mysterious third party is to blame, sure sure 🙄. Firstly, any computer will have third party software, mac or pc, in fact, technically dropbox is third party as otherwise you'd be stuck with apple apps the mac came with and never do anything on your actual computer. Secondly, finder isn't a third party app, it's native to mac, and since we are all experiencing an issue viewing files via finder with dropbox after a dropbox update, I fail to see exactly what third party app they're blaming. Personally since I use my mac for heavy creative work I install very few programs on my mac beyond the big reputable ones, I can't think of anything I've got at all that could be considered minor/potentially unstable/untrustworthy. They surely aren't blaming Adobe or Microsoft, and again, since those programs aren't used to view dropbox files anyway, I fail to see how this would impact their service. Dropbox need to speak to Apple and sort out a solution, it's not Apple's doing either, but I'm quite sure they'd be informed enough to sort out what the issue is exactly. Mac's account for upwards of 30% of the US market as a whole, according to this article from Computer World in May. I'm from Australia and would add if we cut school students from the data that figure would likely grow exponentially, and certainly in the creative industries it's higher again. My point here being, mac use is no longer small fry, the excuses of the tech teams of years past that "oh it's a mac issue it's your fault for using mac" don't cut it any longer, especially not a service like this which is specifically targeted at industries known for being heavy mac users. I've gone back to sending wetransfer links for all clients except the one that forces me to use Dropbox. I've moved all my file storage to icloud drive. The previous comment is true, this is a fundamental part of Dropbox service and without it, Dropbox is pretty useless.

Sam, it’s been ONE FULL YEAR since this was reported! Soon, yeah right. It’s obvious your position as Community Manger is simply to make excuses and string us along. Enough! Please elevate this complaint. Transfer this case up to a more senior level. We are all fed up and tired of a year’s worth of “we’re working on it.” We need to do our work and we’d all be fired if all we had for our clients—for a year—was endless excuses.

YEP I'm a creative professional and it's happening here too. Not having thumbnail previews for online only files on mac is SO frustrating and such a complete waste of time. I have dropbox V183.4.7058I have a M1 Mac Studio running macOS Sonoma 14.0I also sometimes use dropbox from my M2 macbook air running the same OS - it is happening on that one tooIt was happening on Ventura before that, from both computers. I KNOW it's not a mac issue - all my dropbox files were perfect via my mac and I worked online-only every day until a dropbox update (can't remember when the update happened exactly, but its been at least since May) - and ever since that, all my online only files don't show preview thumbnails. I work as a freelancer and have this issue on my personal account > which I use to access a paid dropbox teams account from a large business I sometimes do work for. The issue happens to their entire inhouse team too, and it's frustrating everyone! The only practical way to use Dropbox as a designer is via finder. So please don't suggest accessing from browser, I can't place images in Indesign for example, from browser, or navigate easily to the 100 or so folders I might need, and thousands of files or images. So it's bad enough having to download each dropbox file and folder I need to work on, but if I want to check something in a previous design or any number of files I might look back on, I have to download each one to see it. When I need to view photos from a shoot and find a specific few to place or edit, I CAN'T SEE THEM! I HAVE to download either a ridiculous amount of data just to view 500 photos I might not actually need, or, well, there is no alternative. THIS IS A DAILY ISSUE. So this creates another problem: Duplicates and version control. With no image/thumbnail preview, you're forcing everyone to download all files and folders they need to work on or even check, so the files are now synced locally on their mac. Say two designers are working from the same area, on fairly large files, if we both rename or upload a photo at the same time, because it takes a while to upload big files, we sometimes get duplicates. Version control becomes hideous, the only way I can ensure another designer will see the right version of a file I've been working on is to make it online only, then download them again immediately since I need to see previews of every jpg and pdf myself too. We do fast paced work, I access a LOT of files and folders when I work for this company and what used to be seamless is now clunky, slow and frankly barely usable. Embarrassingly for dropbox, they even had a warning message pop up in-app for a good few months after I noticed my issues started, saying there were issues on mac with online only files. This has mysteriously disappeared now - but the problem remains. It's surprising they aren't taking this more seriously in terms of prioritising a solution, considering macs are pretty standard in most households now, and certainly the standard for my industry. A few of the team have started sending google drive file links, I suspect that is where we are exiting to, although I have no experience with drive myself so can't comment on the practicality of that solution. Personally I use and work from icloud drive, but there isn't really any way to share access as a team to icloud drive files and I can't see that working for teams using both mac's and PC's.

Hi, I'm struggling with the same issue currently on my Mac (running up to date OS Ventura Version 13.3.1 ). My online-only files have plain JPG icons with no preview thumbnails and when I hit the space bar (or select Quick Look) there's nothing. My local files all display perfectly.It's clear that I'm not alone with this issue.Having tens of thousands of images to sort through, this issue is potentially a deal-breaker and one that may need me to move away from Dropbox. I don't want this - so would appreciate some serious help by the DB team. Thanks in advance.

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

165 Replies

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Megan
Dropbox Community Moderator
3 years ago
Hi CharlotteR, is it safe to assume that you're able to see the thumbnails on these files, when the app isn't running, or is this not the case?
CharlotteR
Collaborator | Level 8
3 years ago
Megan the thumbnail images are not visible regardless of whether the Dropbox app is running or not.
Megan
Dropbox Community Moderator
3 years ago
Hi CharlotteR, do you see any icons next to the files, when the app is closed?

If so, can you attach a screenshot of them?
CharlotteR
Collaborator | Level 8
3 years ago
Megan this is what it looks like when the Dropbox app is closed.
Hannah
Dropbox Community Moderator
3 years ago
Sorry to jump in here, CharlotteR, but could you please send us a screenshot of how the files appear when you restart your Finder?
CharlotteR
Collaborator | Level 8
3 years ago
Megan this is what happens after I relaunch the finder. The downloaded images now have thumbnails. The online-only images don't.

This is regardless whether Dropbox is running or not.

If I then set those synced images back to online only, the thumbnail previews remain. But if I then relaunch the finder, the thumbnail previews disappear again.
massimilianogrieco
Helpful | Level 6
3 years ago
Hello,

I would like to know if there is an update on this issue.
Please note that I've already discussed this issue with dropbox support so please, please, please, don't suggest anything like re-indexing spotlight or finder or deleting and reinstalling the app or what so ever - the issue has been confirmed from Dropbox Team (as you can see from the screenshot) so all I want to know is if the version that fixes this bug is available.

Just to give you a bit of context: Since i've updated my Mac to Mac OS Ventura I can't see preview icons if the files are online-only, and sometimes even if I make them available offline.
This is a screenshot of what I see (the grey bar are just to cover my file names)

In case you're wondering, my Dropbox version is v.174.3.5811 which Dropbox Team provided me before admitting that they are aware of the issue.
Thank you,
Massimiliano
Walter
Dropbox Community Moderator
3 years ago
Hey there massimilianogrieco, sorry to hear you're having issues with this and thanks for all the information you've shared with us.

Could you let us know your ticket ID as well so that we can look it up in our system?

Thanks so much!
massimilianogrieco
Helpful | Level 6
3 years ago
Sure - Ticket #22111476
Thank you.
BenDBX
Community Manager
3 years ago
Hi Everybody,

Thanks for reporting this issue. I've looked into it and confirmed that our engineers are aware of this problem and are looking into it. I will post here when we have an update.

Regards,

Ben