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stuartcalder's avatar
stuartcalder
New member | Level 1
2 months ago

Unable to make all my files available offline onto new Mac

I've got a new iMac after the old one has just given up the ghost. All my files are fortunately backed up on Dropbox.  My back-up drive was unfortunately corrupted.  I've installed Dropbox on the new computer and all my files now appear but with "zero bytes".  
But there's a problem.  I can download each file onto the hard drive one at a time by opening and closing it, but this is impossibly time consuming to do for every single file!  
I have gone to Dropbox Preferences, then clicked Sync and then checked Available Offline - but still all my "zero bytes" files remain on line and don't download until I click on them.  
I'm sure there's a simple solution. Please can someone advise me how to find it?  Thanks.

  • janicetaylor's avatar
    janicetaylor
    New member | Level 1

    I will definitely save this information till the time when/if my storage capacity becomes limited. It's comforting to know there is a good alternative option.

    Thank you!

  • janicetaylor's avatar
    janicetaylor
    New member | Level 1

    This is great information. I will keep it in my "back pocket" until the need presents to free up storage on my Mac. It is comforting to know, thank you!

  • janicetaylor's avatar
    janicetaylor
    New member | Level 1

    Thank you for your reply. I see "Dropbox 216.4.7292 Up to Date" when I hover on the icon in the menu bar

    • Jay's avatar
      Jay
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Hi janicetaylor, are you able to right right a file or folder in the Dropbox folder, to see if the Dropbox context menu items appear there?

      • janicetaylor's avatar
        janicetaylor
        New member | Level 1

        Yes, the context menu items appear on right-clicking a file or folder, as in the attached screenshot. The file has zero bytes unless opened, after which it posts the file size.

         

  • stuartcalder's avatar
    stuartcalder
    New member | Level 1

    Under Preferences I clicked Selective sync to select all the folders.  Then I clicked Available offline.  Here are the screenshots - 

     

    • Jay's avatar
      Jay
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Hi stuartcalder, could you locate the Dropbox folder in Finder itself, and then right click it and choose the option to make the files local?

  • stuartcalder's avatar
    stuartcalder
    New member | Level 1

    I selected the whole Dropbox folder and made it available off line.  I have now deselected it and pressed update, then later gone back and reselected it and pressed update but my files are still reading zero bytes. 
    With your second recommendation, I don't quite understand how moving these zero-bytes files to another location on my computer and then back into the Dropbox folder will download them.  Please can you explain?  Thanks.

    • Nancy's avatar
      Nancy
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Hey stuartcalder! Hope you don’t mind if I jump in. 

      Can you clarify what you mean when saying that you’ve deselected the Dropbox folder and pressed “Update”? 

      If you can send me a screenshot of where you’re clicking exactly, that’d be great so that I can have a visual, too.

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    Hey there stuartcalder - sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

    Did you try selecting your whole Dropbox folder and making it available offline and/or online-only and vice-versa to see if it makes any difference? 

    Otherwise, you can try copying or moving those zero-bytes files to another location and then back into your Dropbox folder.

    In any case, please keep us posted, Stuart. 

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