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

Hi vmachado0113, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Were you able to preview the thumbnails of online-only files when using the older version of the Dropbox desktop application on Mac OS?

This will help me to assist further!

No, but I used to be able to click on the files and view them in preview, which I can't do anymore.

If you open files in Preview, then it means that files would be downloaded to the machine to view them. Are the files not being downloaded at that time?

Sorry, not open in preview the application, but in the preview finder window, I don't want to download all the files.

Thanks for the info, if the files are online-only, then there isn't any local data in them, meaning there isn't any image to preview, unless you mark the file as available offline.

Hello There,

I have the same issue, and despite it's not bothering me too much, It might be a good idea to add an app option for downloading the thumbnails only for preview. It is a little strange actually. I switched from web browser client to the app and it downloaded all the thumbnails of files already existed.

So what's the issue here?
I set up the "online only" option for purpose and I am (and I assume for hundreds of other people too) perfectly fine with it. Downloading the thumbnail data however, would be a good option.

I could switch back to the web browser client but unfortunately something has messed with the upload speed lately through that option. And if I still want to use Dropbox - it is the only solution for me.

Fingers crossed for that thumbnails!

This has been an ongoing issue for years and Dropbox still has not come up with a solution. It's to the point that after 10 years we may be leaving Dropbox. As a creative agency we cannot store all of our files locally, why bother using the cloud? That dropbox has not discovered a way around this shows a complete misunderstanding of your customers and their needs. I've wasted hours on the phone with dropbox techs and no one has a solution.

AGREED. not being able to utilize the thumbnail previews in Finder makes using Dropbox inefficient. Looking for a solution from DB or may have to switch service or solutions. Thanks. g

Hi G R A N T,  sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

Could you please let us know some additional information so that we can look into this further?

For example, what is your computer's exact OS version and the version of the Dropbox desktop app installed there as well?

Any additional information is more than welcome! 

Hi there, I'm running 13.5.2 (22G91) OS on a Mac Studio (2022) - Chip is Apple M1 Max with 64Gigs of memory.

Using finder, it is not possible to see a thumbnail image of anything stored online. Dropbox's response that only locally stored files can be seen is problematic. It is not feasible for us to carry 1TB on all computers just to see an thumbnail icon for files. 

This also affects *some files stored locally that have to be clicked or previewed to populate a thumbnail.

It is a good feature for Dropbox to create that populates a thumbnail from files stored online-only. It makes searching for and retrieving creative documents extremely difficult. 

Creative agencies, engineering firms, and those who rely on graphic images really need to be able to see thumbnails in the Mac Finder App. Or a compatible finder could be created by you that serves that purpose - again icon views of thumbnails is essential.

This used to exist years ago, based on my recollection. It was never a problem until about three or four years ago.

Thanks.

Hello Walter I tried running the beta version you noted above in an earlier post. It looks like the Beta will allow for Finder to display thumbnails of image files and PDFs. This is a big improvement. I hope this fix in beta remains in the next permanent version. Thanks. G