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Forum Discussion
InDesign file icons are not displaying in Dropbox under certain conditions
Description of the issue I'm experiencing in Windows 11 using the Dropbox Desktop app:
- InDesign files (.INDD) have a blank icon inside the Dropbox folder instead of the proper icon, except for under very specific circumstances. This behavior does NOT occur outside the Dropbox folder.
- 'Online Only' InDesign file (.INDD) icons are not displaying. Meanwhile, all the other Adobe Creative Cloud file type icons (.AI, .PSD, .PDF, etc.) appear, regardless of Smart Sync status ('Only Only' or 'Local').
- Only new 'Local' InDesign files have the appropriate file type icon; InDesign files that were added prior to installing the Dropbox Desktop app do not have the proper icon. Resaving the .INDD within the software does not correct this issue.
The workarounds that work so far are to either:
- Downloading the files, then reuploading them to the Dropbox folder, allowing them to overwrite the existing files
- Smart Syncing the file to 'Local,' and assigning "InDesign" under "Open With..." in the right-click menu—however, this does not apply to all .INDD files and immediately loses effect once the file is switched back to 'Online Only.' (Oddly enough, if reverted back to 'Local,' the proper icon is applied to these files.)
Of course, neither of these are feasible long-term options, as there are several thousand .INDDs in our company's Dropbox folder.
I've tried all the typical approaches to resolve this, including ensuring file associations were set, rebuilding the Windows icon cache (although I'm not certain this was successful—the files still appeared to be in use), uninstalling/reinstalling Adobe Creative Cloud apps, uninstalling/reinstalling Dropbox Desktop app, editing the registry.
Although this is admittedly minor, it's frustrating. Please advise.
10 Replies
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- Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hi kalbrandon, thanks for bringing this to our attention.
Are you referring to a thumbnail preview of the file itself in the icon, or the actual icon used for InDesign files?
Any other info or screenshots would be helpful!
Thanks for your prompt response, Jay!
I'm referring to the actual icon associated with InDesign (.INDD) files—though, strangely, InDesign Markup Language (.IDML) files are unaffected. See attached for a screenshot demonstration. Both .INDD and .IDML appear normally outside the Dropbox environment.
Additions steps I've taken between now and your reply:
- Uninstalled/reinstalled Adobe Creative Cloud and it's apps using Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool
- This yielded a partial fix: now .INDD files return to the correct icon once made 'Local' again, however they still return to the generic blank page icon once reverted back to 'Online Only.'
- Advanced uninstall/reinstall of Dropbox (although the registry folders were missing and most, if not all, of the AppData, ProgramData, etc.)
- Reset PC (keeping files—would prefer to not remove personal files); reinstalled Dropbox and Adobe Creative Cloud apps
- Uninstalled Dropbox and deleted Dropbox folder; reinstalled Dropbox and recreated Dropbox folder
- Performed an update of the InDesign (removing the older version), which happened to become available this morning
None of these steps have resolved the issue.
Other helpful info:
- Operating System: Windows 11 Home (ver. 21H2, build 22000.708), Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22000.708.0
- System Type: 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor
- Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5900HX with Radeon Graphics 3.30 GHz
- RAM: Installed 32.0 GB (31.4 GB usable)
- Dropbox: Desktop App (ver. 149.4.4568), status Up to date
- Windows Updates: Up-to-date, including all available Optional Updates
Thank you kindly for any assistance you (or anyone else) can offer!
- Uninstalled/reinstalled Adobe Creative Cloud and it's apps using Adobe Creative Cloud Cleaner Tool
Follow-up: after posting this, I noticed the InDesign files that do not already have the proper icon will not gain it back by changing from 'Local' to 'Online Only.' I'm not super, super tech-savvy, but someone in another thread suggested Dropbox is not storing part of the data that recognizes the file type (they referred to it as the "magic number."
- Megan
Hi kalbrandon, happy Friday!
Would it be okay for me to reach out via email, in order for us to have a closer look into this?
Thanks!
Yes, please. Thank you!
- Hannah
Hey kalbrandon, I've just sent you an email, so make sure to get back to me when you get a chance.
Thanks!
- Thank you, Hannah. I confirmed my address by email and am doing so here, as well.
Hi Kal,
Did you get this issue resolved? I have a similar issue with PDF files and can't figure out how to fix it.
- Walter
Hey MarkofLA, sorry to jump in here, but could you clarify the version and status of the Dropbox desktop app as shown in your menu bar/system tray at the moment?
Also, do you notice this with online only files or files that are available offline on your computer?
Any additional information you can share is more than welcome!
No, I never resolved the issue satisfactorily. Dropbox blamed how InDesign/Adobe handle file icons/thumbnails. I've just learned to cope with it. It doesn't seem to be an issue with newer files, just ones created before installing the desktop app. So, of course, over time, I am seeing less and less of the defective icons.
Sorry I couldn't be more helpful.
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