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Spotlight Search Doesn't Link to Files in Dropbox in macOS 13 Ventura
After upgrading to macOS Ventura, I was prompted to upgrade to "Dropbox for macOS 12". I proceeded with that, it moved my Dropbox folder to ~/Library/CloudStorage and confirmed all was successful. Now when using Spotlight to search (I often type something like 'drawings folder' to open a folder called Drawings) the results in Spotlight show the Dropbox app icon beside the name of the item I want (rather than a Finder icon for folder or file). Hitting Enter or clicking on the result switches to Finder and does nothing, or sometimes will open the Applications folder and show the Dropbox app. It's not linking me to the actual file in ~/Library/CloudStorage.
I have done the following and the problem is not solved:
- Restarted
- Ensured all files are available for offline access
- Rebuilt the spotlight index
- Unlinked Dropbox from this Mac, did a complete clean install of dropbox, performed the upgrade to v159.4.5870 and synced just one folder to begin
Nothing works. Any suggestions??
- That’s the same problem I had. I solved it by doing a complete clean install of dropbox. You may not need to do all of this, but to be safe, in Dropbox settings Selective Sync uncheck all of your folders and wait for them to be removed from your Mac. Once that’s done, unlink your Mac from Dropbox preferences. You should see the Dropbox getting started screen. Quit Dropbox and move the app to the Trash. Remove all dropbox files from ~/Library being careful to look at the path name. Only remove things that are within a Dropbox parent folder. Look in library application support, and library preferences. Empty the Trash. Restart your Mac. Reinstall Dropbox from dropbox.com. Once reinstalled, to make things faster sync only one small folder and wait for the prompt that new Dropbox for macOS 12 is available. You should see the message within a few minutes of reinstalling Dropbox. Allow it to upgrade and migrate your files to the new location. Once that’s done you can then sync all your folders. Let your Mac index itself and the problem should be solved.
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😊 Let us know, if it worked for you. It would be great, if somebody from Dropbox-Team would comment this thread as well😊
The solution that finally worked for me was an Advanced Reinstall (https://help.dropbox.com/installs/advanced-reinstall). Recommend that anyone with issues tries that.
For my part, I'll definitely refuse to immediately update my Dropbox version in the future after what happened this time.
Merry Christmas😊 Could you tell me please - after you did Advanced Reinstall - is your data under user/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox now? Or just under user? Did you update your Dropbox after you did the Advance Reinstall?
- Since Dropbox customer service doesn’t seem to care about this issue in the end i uninstalled the official dropbox client and installed the free Maestral client.
No more issue and spotlight now can search and open files in dropbox folder. Totally agree. I corresponded with a dedicated dropbox specialist on this issue and for the last 13 days silence. Nobody else contacts me. I uninstalled dropbox, installed it again but without this "updated". Using it as before. Also considering changing to a different platform. Any ideas which one operates the same manner as dropbox? I want to have cloud storage used as a local drive with some files available offline and some online. Both have to be visible and quickly accessible as it works with dropbox. Any help would be appreciated.
I also switched to Maestral which seems to work fine.
I do not know what happened to Dropbox, that once was a gold standard. Dropbox accompanied me for almost 15 years. Over time, it degenerated more and more. Web UI has become a catastrophe, the system integration in macOS is ridiculously intrusive (why does it have to add SEVEN options to the context menu in Finder?!) and it tries to promote its paid plans at every occasion. This thing here is just the tip of the iceberg, the final straw. Obviously one of the recent versions of the Dropbox client for macOS has been _seriously_ broken. A responsible decision would have been to stop promoting this version to the users instead of pushing them into this broken version. I waited several months before upgrading to Ventura (just to make sure that the most sever bugs will have been ruled out by then). As a former software developer myself, I have to confess, this is the long finger in the face of those who use Dropbox. Enough for me, good bye, Dropbox.
I contacted Dropbox Team per Facebook today and they answered very quickly. They are going to open a ticket for me to take a look into this issue. I will keep posting:)
Hi All--Sad to report that I woke up today and am back to square one. After my initial problem, the uninstall-->reinstall, a couple weeks of Dropbox and Mac OS Ventura playing nicely, Spotlight once again is unable to open files and folders when I double click the search result. I have a paid account, so I'll reach out to Dropbox Support directly to open a ticket. I'll report back.
The Maestral client fixes the search issue on macOS Ventura 13. It seems like a lightweight client, time will tell.
