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Forum Discussion

SherryCooper's avatar
SherryCooper
New member | Level 2
8 years ago
Solved

Why can't I open Smart Synced online-only files?

Hi,  I've been using the smart sync function to save space on my Mac. It has been working very well until today.  When I try to open any files that are set to online only, they will not open. How...
desktop
sync
  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    8 years ago
    Hi Sherry, are you opening the files directly from Finder, or via the program used to view them? Do you have a stable internet connection using WiFi?
     
    Additionally, how large are the files you’re trying to open? If they’re quite large, then while the Dropbox app begins syncing the content immediately, it may take some time to completely sync and open. 
     
    Sync speed is impacted by the size of the file and the speed of your internet connection, it may take some time to completely sync and open.
     
    If you see the associated application open, but your file does not load or an error occurs, the first step to resolve this issue would be to right-click on the file and select ‘Local’ from the Smart Sync menu. This will sync the file to your computer. Once the file has completed syncing down to your machine, you should again attempt to re-open it.
     
    Let me know if this helps!
  • oqjl's avatar
    oqjl
    7 years ago

    To provide closure on my particular issue to the rest of the community, I'm replying here. 

    Turns out that the problem was with Microsoft Office suite, not Dropbox, as might have been expected from my comment on the Office specific document problem. Uninstalling and reinstalling Microsoft Office fixed the issue.

     

     

launchscotland's avatar
launchscotland
Helpful | Level 5
4 years ago

I have the same issue on my MacBook Pro after updating to Monterey 12.3.1 it worked fine before this update. I used to be able to open online files in Adobe products and it would auto synch them to offline but now it gives me a warning of "files is empty". Not sure if this is a Dropbox, Mac or Adobe issue...

Megan's avatar
Megan
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
4 years ago

Hey launchscotland, thanks for posting today! 

 

Do you notice the same behavior when changing the files beforehand to be stored locally? What happens if you do that before trying to open them through Adobe? 

 

Let me know! 

  • JonShad's avatar
    JonShad
    New member | Level 2
    4 years ago

    New PC, installed MSOffice 365, then Dropbox, smart-sync (online-only) some folders, double-click a text file and Windows responds with "Unspecified error".

     

    Tried a PDF: opened a browser and opened the file which had immediately been sync'd (offline).

    Tried a PNG: file also opened successfully.

     

    Then I installed notepad++, tried my .txt file, this time it worked by opening in notepad++. It was immediately made available offline.

     

    I think (but am not sure until I can try this on a clean PC again) that Office has installed some hooks that interfere with the Dropbox hooks, for text files and maybe some other office-compatible files. 

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    4 years ago

    Hey JonShad, are you still having issues with this?

     

    If so, could you clarify if the file appears to have synced normally after you get the error or if it's falling altogether?  

     

    Does making the files available offline on your computer work by the way?

  • JonShad's avatar
    JonShad
    New member | Level 2
    4 years ago

    Hi - now it seems to be working normally, 100% of the time.

     

    Offline works, and did work.

     

    I haven't knowingly changed anything, so I can suggest what might have happened to make it work.

     

    Thanks for the follow-up.

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    4 years ago

    Glad to hear it's sorted now and thanks for keeping me in the loop too JonShad

     

    See you around the Community and have a lovely week ahead!

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