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Andrew-RFLB's avatar
Andrew-RFLB
Helpful | Level 5
8 years ago
Solved

Smart Sync and Quick Preview on Mac

Smart Sync causes my quick preview function (spacebar) to not function properly on my Mac. I can't preview thumbnails, or quick preview any videos or photos. Any ideas why this happens?

desktop
Mac
Setting up the apps
  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    8 years ago

    Likely because you're trying to preview a file that doesn't exist on your computer.

     

    When you set a file to Online Only, the only thing that's left of that file on your computer is the necessary information to make it appear in the folder. Since there's no content in the file, your OS (nor any other program) is able to preview it.

     

    Remember, when you set a file to Online Only, the file is removed from the computer leaving behind only a marker file. In order to access that file, whether it be to open and edit it or simply preview it, the file needs to be on the computer (Smart Sync doesn't allow you to open files directly from the Dropbox servers). When you open a file, it's synced back to your local drive and then opened as normal. When you're done with the file, if you want it to be online-only again, you need to mark it as such.

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  • DanKorkelia's avatar
    DanKorkelia
    Helpful | Level 5
    7 years ago

    Hi Jane,

    Yes please keep up to date on this subject. Best Wishes

    Dan

  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    7 years ago

    Hey there DanKorkelia & horat10, in order to further investigate what's happening, I’ve sent you a brief message on the email connected to your Forum profile. You may have a look at your inboxes at your earliest convenience if you’d like us to work on that together. Thanks in advance! 

  • Ideal1's avatar
    Ideal1
    Helpful | Level 5
    7 years ago
    So, have you the solution for this problem, in my case is a big issue?
    8/9 months to fix is not good tech support.
    Can you help us?
  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    7 years ago
    Hey there (Ideal1), rest assured that I’m here to help as much as possible. If it’s not too much trouble for you, can you elaborate a bit on what seems to be the issue on your end, in order to follow-up on the right thing? 
     
    To best address your concern, please include as much detail as possible on this discussion & I’ll do my best to follow-up with you. Thanks in advance! 
  • Alvpeerz's avatar
    Alvpeerz
    Helpful | Level 5
    7 years ago

    I commented a while ago. I have updated my macbook from High Sierra to Mojave but nothing has changed. Relaunching the finder works for 10 seconds, then it goes back to not showing previews again. This is systemwide, I stop seeing previews of everything in my computer. And here we are.

     

    I'd like to be contacted by support like Jen suggested.

  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    7 years ago

    Hey there ( Alvpeerz ), following your request here, I’ve sent you a brief message on the email connected to your Forum profile. You may have a look at your inbox at your earliest convenience if you’d like us to work on that together. Thanks in advance & happy Friday! 

     

     

  • Ideal1's avatar
    Ideal1
    Helpful | Level 5
    7 years ago

    Hi Jane,

    Mac OS High Sierra. Relaunching the Finder works, for a little while, then back to not being able to preview neither what I have in my computer or what's online.

    Is there a way to solve it?

    Thank you

  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    7 years ago

    Thanks for pinging me back here & apologies for the slight delay in getting back in touch with you Ideal1! I’ve created a ticket on our system on your behalf & you could have a look at your inbox for my message at your earliest convenience, in order to work on that a bit closer together. Thanks again for your cooperation!

  • Moonlet's avatar
    Moonlet
    Helpful | Level 5
    7 years ago

    So... Clearly this problem affects all (well, many) Mac users. You now know that it's nothing to do with version or OS and you kow it's not related to online-only files so... It's a bug.

    Can you assure us you are working on a solution? I, like many, only too the pro option because of Smart Sync and clearly it ain't that Smart!

  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    7 years ago
    Hey there (Moonlet), let me quickly re-phrase that the issue described here pertains to previews not loading while utilizing Quick Previews after the files have been set to Online-only ☁️ & converted back to Local :white_check_mark:. While I’ve tried to explore whether this scenario applies, I haven’t been able to gather the relevant feedback & findings, in order to submit this report to our specialized team. If you’ve gathered any relevant info, I could reach out to you via email directly, in order to investigate in a bit more depth together.
     
    Please do let me know how you’d like to proceed in your next post & I’ll follow-up with you asap. Thanks again!

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