Need to see if your shared folder is taking up space on your dropbox 👨💻? Find out how to check here.
Forum Discussion
Solved
Files do not get downloaded automatically on Mac
Hi there,
I am experiencing an issue with files added by other users after installing the new Dropbox on MAC OS 13.1 (22C65). I need the files to be downloaded automatically to my drive instea...
I think a resolution may be to right-click the parent folder (DropboxFolder > YourFolder) and select "Make Available Offline".
When I did this, I got the green tick on the folder, then the files started adding the green tick, and then files created and placed in there form another source downloaded automatically.
Test it and see if this works for you. It now works for me. Saves me a bit of concern too wit the visual prompt of the green tick.
EDIT - you can also do this to the Dropbox folder. So that might be the better solution!
Hannah :-
Are the files in question syncing to your Dropbox folder, just as online-only? Or are they not getting synced at all?
The files that I create are not sync'g at all. Also, no Dropbox context menu items such as "Make available offline"
And is it happening to files that the other member of the folder is uploading? Or files that both of you upload?
Only to me. There are only two of us and afaik the other member is not using Mac.
So far, I can only replicate the issue in a specific app with the following steps:
1) I open a file in the shared dropbox folder that my collaborator has sync'd across (the file is a log file that the app "replays").
2) I step through the log file (until the end or not, does not matter - I suspect that the app still have the sender's file "open" once I exit this step).
3) I create my own log file in the shared folder and close it.
4) When I tried creating a second file in the same session, it did sync and had the expected dropbox menu items.
Once my file is created in step (3), simply moving the file out of Dropbox and back again does not fix the issue. However, if I create my file outside of Dropbox and then move it in, Dropbox does "adopt" the file and it does sync.
Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
Dropbox Community ModeratorHi MathewCross, are you on the latest version of your OS? It sounds like you're on the new version of the Mac OS Dropbox app, on which files are defaulted to online-only.
marktb1961, is this for all files on the site, or just certain files aren't syncing down? Do they have a compatible file name to allow for the download?
yes, I am on both new Dropbox and MAC OS, does it mean I am not able to use dropbox as I used to?
- Jay
That's correct, since the new version of the Dropbox desktop application for Mac OS, files added online or from other devices will default to online-only on your machine.
You can still mark entire folders as available offline, and files within there should download as local copies.
'fantastic' so the whole basic idea of dropbox as a convenient tool synchronizing files automatically has gone to hell, it would be great if someone had thought that such a crucial change might make work of somem people very difficult and laborious as some 3 party applications do not download the files like finder after double clicking so now working in that application I have to keep finder open and download manually folders where I want to work... 'thank you very much'....
is this for all files on the site, or just certain files aren't syncing down? Do they have a compatible file name to allow for the download?
It is only for files that I create from a specific third party app, in the circumstances described above in my reply to Hannah. Files have compatible file names, nothing fancy.
I noticed that Dropbox updated on my machines to version 165.4.4300 ... since then, the test I described does not replicate the issue. Perhaps something else has changed but hopefully Dropbox have fixed the issue.
In actual use, the problem has recurred. Possibly the exact way I use the app to open a file is significant.
Also, if I duplicate the output file (the one that Dropbox has failed to recognise), the new copy IS taken up correctly and sync'd.
- Jay
Hi marktb1961, thank you for your feedback relating to the new syncing behavior on Dropbox for macOS.
As with any operating system (OS), macOS is updated regularly and with that, we must keep the Dropbox desktop app aligned with any requirements set out by an OS. Keeping aligned to those requirements ensures that the Dropbox desktop app will provide the best possible experience for all our customers in to the future.
We’ll be sure to pass your feedback along to our Product and Design teams.
