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Justin P.2's avatar
Justin P.2
Collaborator | Level 10
8 years ago
Solved

Is there a way to choose whether .zip files are previewing on the Dropbox website?

I'm a long time Dropbox user and today I went to check if some older links were still active that I had sent to a cleint.  Most of the files are send out are zipped for various reasons.    It ...
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  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    8 years ago
    Thanks for sharing your thoughts on how this functionality change has impacted your workflow MRMJP, I’d happily follow-up with you on this discussion & I hope my post finds you well! 
     
    You’re absolutely right when it comes to this recent feature implementation, therefore at the moment when previewing an archive file, you can navigate through the archive file structure and preview individual files within the archive. Previously, compressed files (such as .zip & .rar) couldn’t be viewed on the web interface & in case you had received (or sent) a shared link containing this filetype, you’d (or the recipient would) have to download them locally, in order to view the contents. 
     
    That all being said, I appreciate the time you’ve devoted in writing us the specifics of how this alteration has worked for you so far & for that reason I’ve made sure to transfer your comments up the ladder for future reference. 
     
    In any event, please let me know here if you have any more thoughts or questions & I’ll do my best to check back with you. Wishing you a fruitful May & a wonderful rest of the day ahead! 
Jane's avatar
Jane
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
8 years ago
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on how this functionality change has impacted your workflow MRMJP, I’d happily follow-up with you on this discussion & I hope my post finds you well! 
 
You’re absolutely right when it comes to this recent feature implementation, therefore at the moment when previewing an archive file, you can navigate through the archive file structure and preview individual files within the archive. Previously, compressed files (such as .zip & .rar) couldn’t be viewed on the web interface & in case you had received (or sent) a shared link containing this filetype, you’d (or the recipient would) have to download them locally, in order to view the contents. 
 
That all being said, I appreciate the time you’ve devoted in writing us the specifics of how this alteration has worked for you so far & for that reason I’ve made sure to transfer your comments up the ladder for future reference. 
 
In any event, please let me know here if you have any more thoughts or questions & I’ll do my best to check back with you. Wishing you a fruitful May & a wonderful rest of the day ahead! 
Justin P.2's avatar
Justin P.2
Collaborator | Level 10
8 years ago

Thanks for the info. This idea may seem good on paper I don't see the point in previewing the contents of a zip file if you can't also acess it directly. They have to downlaod it anyway.

 

Often times zip files are zipped for a reason, to keep a group of files together. Now I have cleints emailing me about why they can see the files within the zip, but can't actually open them. I have to explain that they need to find the no so obvious downlaod button and download it all first.

 

I does them no good to see inside of it. They and I both know what shoud be inside of the zip, that is why I made it.

 

For one file set in particualr, an audio DDP image, it only works if all the files are presnt so tempting people by to see and access the individual files in their browser is not helping and only adding confusion. 

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