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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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- I sincerely hope Hannah is not a chatbot. We all wish some meaningful (and technical) reply from somebody inside Dropbox.
I am so dang frustrated. I have had a support ticket open with dropbox for over a month, only to have dropbox support close the ticket with no explanation. I am still having the same issue all of you are. No solution. Dropbox is non-functional in OS Ventura using Spotlight. Not only can I not open files through Spotlight; I also can't drag and drop files into emails or messages, which is something I do a dozen times a day because of my job.
I'd like a ticket too. I tried it all now. reinstalling dropbox, spotlight reindexing. But I still dont' get a link form the spotlight search to the files in Dropbox. I use this all the time, so it's really a disaster for me.
- When you reinstall Dropbox you can’t make the update to the last version, because it will move the files to cloudstorage folder. The problem is on the location of the files. Make a new install without updating to the new version and you will solve it this.
thx rikymonty, this has been suggested several times, however it did not work out for me.
i downloaded (from https://dropbox.en.uptodown.com/mac/versions) an old version (154.4.4801) from september (when everything still worked fine on my system), installed it and it automatically upgraded to 166.4.2920 without even asking and put the folder into my library (cloudstorage - where btw my google drive lives, which i evaluate as an alternative).
so pls specify the 'old version' (do we ned to get back to some 14x..... version from spring 2022?) and tell my how to avoid this auto-upgrade.
tia
It functioned in my case 4 times. I am not sure if it upgrades automatically because of changed file you download or because of the file, which will be downloaded, when you click on a first one. If you would like to try a file, I succeed with, you can download it from my privat Dropbox. This file is not modified or changed. Its an original file I downloaded from Dropbox website few weeks ago: https://www.dropbox.com/s/sa1qb5wwhdbuq7c/DropboxInstaller-5.dmg?dl=0
- You are right some times I’ve had the same result.
But I think it’s because the uninstall wasn’t properly made.
When you uninstall you’ve got to remove all files from the Mac including the folder on cloudsotorge. I suggest using an app like appCleaner.
Then use the Dropbox install app. it will install the older version. Only after the install it will ask you to upgrade, and won’t do it.
If this is done correctly it will work, mine is running perfectly on macOS Ventura 13.2 Posting this just to show dropbox that I have the exact same problem. It's very frustrating... I am paying for dropbox as a very small user because it makes things easier and I trust it to store my important files. But if it makes things harder like it does at the moment I am totally willing to change to icloud for good.
Its very annoying, for me too.
But as ive searched this issue, is mainly because of the apple policy . that changes of location...
I suspect they want their icloud service to be more popular and to decrease the interest for the main competitors
