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I can preview offline files on my Android device, but I can't open them with Microsoft.
Hello,
I was on holiday and wanted to open a file I had successfully synced to be offline. However, when I tried to open the off-line file I received a message:
"you can view this file offline,...
Hey Pdecort! Apologies for any delays.
I double checked this with our team in the meantime and they’ve also confirmed that this is expected. Offlining mostly allows files to be previewed on the Dropbox mobile app, but to edit a file by using the Microsoft app in this case, you’d need to be connected to the internet. This is to prevent the creation of conflicts and duplicates on Dropbox, as the app won’t be able to detect your updates.
I’ve passed your feedback to our team though, so that they can also check your comments, in case this is something they’d consider changing in the future.
Hello, I cleared the 'Data' and 'cache' which removed the offline files.
I added some back in - using the toggle method as described above. They all seem to be working as I'd expect 'offline' now - except the 'password protected' word document...
It seems to have trouble with the 'preview' of the password protected file - and gives the message
"Network Error - couldn't connect to Dropbox. Please check your internet connection and try again.
Open With..." button below.
If I hit the 'Open With' button and choose Word - I get the message I initially reported ("You can view it offline but you'll need an internet connection to edit it. OK"
From your comment earlier - I can 'Save to Device' (which is odd - as it's already saved to the device as it's downloaded offline) which saves it in the 'downloads' folder. I can then use a file-explorer type program (I prefer CX File Explorer on Android) to browse the file - which does open in Word.
It seems to be a problem passing the password-protected file from Dropbox cache to Word. Hope that helps.
I can't upload a photo with my post which is a shame.
Hannah
Dropbox Community Moderator
Dropbox Community ModeratorHello Hannah,
As I've been explaining to Walter - I know they can not be previewed.
But it should be able to pass the file to the application which can open it - i.e. Word. Both DropBox and Word are installed on the phone so there is no need for an internet connection - just pass the file from the DB cache to Word to open.
It works with an internet connection - so that's the issue - why doesn't it work without an internet connection? Thanks.
Hello.
From my desktop I saved a copy of the document without a password and DropBox is able to preview it (as it's not password protected) - but if I try to open it in Word - it generates the same error. So it seems the problem is that Dropbox is unable to share the document from the DB Cache with Word when offline.Testing with my wife's phone (S21) It won't open either word document in offline mode with no internet. so that's worse than my old phone!
Thanks for trying to help me troubleshoot!
Hello Hannah, Walter,
I hope you both had a lovely weekend. Do you have any suggestions for my predicament? If I know in advance - I can download to the device whilst I have connection - but that's a work-around rather than a long term solution. Have you been able to reproduce the behaviour I have described? Thanks.
- Nancy
Hi Pdecort! Hope you don’t mind if I jump in.
From what you mention (and from what I’ve tested on my end), this is expected behavior indeed. While you can preview offline files via the mobile app on your phone, you’ll still need an internet connection in order to open them via the Microsoft app on your device.
So, I’d also suggest what you mentioned and download these files locally on your device, if you wish to edit them via a third-party app while you're not connected to the internet.
Thanks for the reply Nancy.
Why? As I mentioned earlier - If I download the file to the phone and browse to the downloaded file - I can open the same file in Word app without an internet connection. Why does it need an internet connection to do it directly from DropBox? That makes no sense as it (should!) not be doing anything extra - just launching the app and passing the file to the second app. Thanks.
I don't see why DropBox requires an internet connection to open the file in Word; when Word itself doesn't need an internet connection to open the file (e.g. I can open via CX Explorer App without internet) and the file is already downloaded to the device in the DB cache.
Do you follow my logic? I hope that makes sense.
I'd suggest it's a bug.
Could the Development team look at the way e.g. CX Explorer launches Word without an internet connection and compare it to how DBox launches Word (which seems to require an internet connection)?
Thanks. :-)
- Nancy
Hey Pdecort! Apologies for any delays.
I double checked this with our team in the meantime and they’ve also confirmed that this is expected. Offlining mostly allows files to be previewed on the Dropbox mobile app, but to edit a file by using the Microsoft app in this case, you’d need to be connected to the internet. This is to prevent the creation of conflicts and duplicates on Dropbox, as the app won’t be able to detect your updates.
I’ve passed your feedback to our team though, so that they can also check your comments, in case this is something they’d consider changing in the future.
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