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Mickeymouse1's avatar
Mickeymouse1
Explorer | Level 4
9 years ago
Solved

I'm having an issue opening the videos I've downloaded from Dropbox on my phone & desktop.

I have dropbox on my phone and computer. I am not able to open any old videos or current videos.  I am getting a message " can't play, choose something else, this item is in a format we don't suport".

My old videos were opening up and now they aren't.

What has changed and how can I fix this?

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  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    9 years ago
    You need to make sure you have a program on your computer that can open them. Thats nothing to do with Dropbox I'm afraid.

    I suggest trying VLC player.
  • Vernon's avatar
    Vernon
    9 years ago
     
    To follow up on this, keep in mind that the Dropbox folder in your computer, acts in many ways like a normal folder, so the files you want to open - the videos in this case - will use the program you have installed for video previewing. Same goes with your mobile phone app.
     
    The website is another thing, as it has certain filetypes that can be previewed. You can find a complete list here:https://www.dropbox.com/help/files-folders/file-types-that-preview
     
    Hope this helps!

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  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    9 years ago
    You need to make sure you have a program on your computer that can open them. Thats nothing to do with Dropbox I'm afraid.

    I suggest trying VLC player.
  • Mickeymouse1's avatar
    Mickeymouse1
    Explorer | Level 4
    9 years ago

    They were opening a while ago and now they aren't.  I still have the same computer so why won't they open now?

  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    9 years ago
    Thats something to do with your computer Mickeymouse1 I'm afraid and not something I can answer :(

    You may be able to get more appropriate help on an suitable movie playing forum rather than Dropbox.
  • Vernon's avatar
    Vernon
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    9 years ago
     
    To follow up on this, keep in mind that the Dropbox folder in your computer, acts in many ways like a normal folder, so the files you want to open - the videos in this case - will use the program you have installed for video previewing. Same goes with your mobile phone app.
     
    The website is another thing, as it has certain filetypes that can be previewed. You can find a complete list here:https://www.dropbox.com/help/files-folders/file-types-that-preview
     
    Hope this helps!
  • njdjninja's avatar
    njdjninja
    New member | Level 2
    8 years ago

    all the videos in my dropbox will open and they all use the same player but this one won't open with that same player. It was made with the same program as the others. Why won't it open?

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

    Hey there njdjninja - Welcome to our Community and thanks for posting your question here.

    Can you make sure you have not tampered with the file's extension?

    If for example you upload a .mov file, the name of the file has to end in .mov for other applications/programs to recognize and be able to open it normally.  Is it possible that you renamed this file and removed its extension somehow?

    If this is not the case, please provide as much info as possible in order to have a better look into it. Few things to check here would be the file's size, type and if you are able to open it on another device or even preview it on the web. 

    I hope this information helps and please let me know what you find.

     

    [This thread is now closed by moderators due to inactivity. If you're experiencing a similar behavior, feel free to Ask help from the Community here.]

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