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Forum Discussion
Default sync state for new files: "Available offline" is not working on the Dropbox desktop app
Starting a new discussion because the last one (titled: "Make available offline" is not working for me") was suddenly closed to replies, without a successful resolution.
In Options, I set the Default sync state for new files to "Available offline". This does not stay, and files are randomly staying online-only until I open them - which is completely useless considering my work is done offline 99% of the time.
(before the File Provider "upgrade", it would let me select the radio box, but the setting was not saved upon revisiting the options page. After the "upgrade", the radio box cannot be selected at all.)
This is occuring on every single Mac that I've checked for the entirety of 2025. Updates, fresh installs.
In February 2025:
Dropbox engineers are aware of the problem and are working on a solution.
My support tickets have been closed without resolution, and included amazing advice such as this from Samuel, Mar 20, 2025 π
As we are still looking into the issue, I would like to provide you with a temporary workaround, that we can suggest where you can try to install the Microsoft store app - [link to microsoft store]
20 Replies
Walter,
Status: Up to Date
version 228.4.5567
- Megan
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hey johnnyringo, let me also jump in here!
When did this issue first start happening?
Would you mind walking me through the steps that you follow on your end? Do you right click on files and try to select them as "available offline" or is this their current syncing state?
If you have any screenshots feel free to send them over, in order for me to have a visual too.
I only noticed the issue this past week, so I'm unsure when it may have started. It's simple really, under "preferences" -> "Sync" -> "default sync preference" there are 2 options: Online Only or Available Offline. I set it to "Available offline" but every time I open up preferences, it goes back to "online-only"
I would like to sync ALL my files locally by default. It seems the option in preferences is glitched?
- Megan
Hey johnnyringo!
Can you also try updating the app to the latest stable version that came out yesterday, to see if that makes any difference?
Also, have you tried quitting the app by right-clicking the Dropbox icon in your task bar? You can then select Quit Dropbox, then reopen it from your installed applications.
Lastly, if you select your files/folders inside Dropbox and right click on them, do you have the option to make them available offline, or online-only?
- Nancy
Hey johnnyringo! Did Meganβs suggestions help with the issue you were having?
If not, let us know and we can look into this further.
Any solution to this??
I just got a new Windows 11 laptop, when I first set up my Dropbox account I set it to have everything online only since I have several TBs of data. Then I went into setting to select which folders I want offline and on my hard drive, which is around 300gb. The problem is I want ALL NEW files uploaded to those folders to be available offline and have the green checkmark and yet even though I have that setting selected, every single new file I upload has the grey icon and is online only. This is a PITA to have to do each file individually.
It was working perfectly fine in Windows 10!
- Hannah
Sorry to see that you're having an issue with this feature, Bonnie K.4.
Would you mind sending me a screenshot of the setting for new files added to your account from the "sync" tab in your Dropbox app preferences and a screenshot of how your files appear in the Dropbox folder?
Which version of the Dropbox app are you using?
- Megan
Hey Bonnie K.4!
A quick follow-up to our last message! Let us know if you still need assistance or if everything is working as expected.
I ended up having to make all those folders available offline, which completely filled up my hard drive, and then selected all the files within and chose the online only option to free up the space. It took awhile because as I made some online only, the rest would download to my hard drive, but eventually I was able to get them all synced and online only and am back to having 400+ GB of free space on my hard drive.
So I guess the answer is if you want to have new files appear offline, the parent folder MUST be set to offline first. If the parent folder is online only, ALL NEW files within will default to online only status, even if you have the setting checked for new files to be always available offline. Which is a really stupid way of doing things and sucks for setting up new computers, but there seems to be no way around it.
- Megan
Hey there, Bonnie K.4β!
Thanks for the added info, and happy to see that your issue is now resolved!
If you need something else, please let me know and I will be more than happy to help every step of the way. π
