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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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- But Maestral doesn‘t have context menu to share and copy Dropbox link as well as doesn‘t show status - if a file was already uploaded.. Thats why I am still on an old well working original version
I got a ticket, and Dropbox team asked me to follow their instructions. I installed update for the 3rd (!) time and my system was broken for the 3rd time again. Re-index, reboot etc - nothing helps - Spotlight doesn't work on Ventura 13.1 properly. They said - if issue persist, they will instruct me about some further steps. Anyway there is a silence already for a week. I guess they are not able to find out what the problem is. I wonder why they moved data to Library. Macs usually do not search in this Folder at all. This last update is a pure disaster. If there is no solution till end of this week, I will move to the old version installing it for the 4th time.
I confirm. They did the same thing with me. Instructed to uninstall, reindex, nothing helped and silence for the last 3 weeks. I wrote several mails about the reason of their lack of response and... silence. I uninstalled new version and switched back to the old one. Everything works ok now. I'm not planning on "updating" to the new version until there is an official confirmation that everything works ok. If nothing changed till the end of my premium period then I'll look for a different platform.
I have carried out the steps in this article but still it didn't work. However, when I put the Dropbox folder into Spotlight's prevention list, I was able to access the files and folders in Dropbox folder using Spotlight as I expected.
I don't know why it works but somehow it does work. Hope it helps : - )
I got further instructions from Dropbox team and have send them logs. They will take a look. In my case it didn't work - dragging to Spotlight window Dropbox folder or the whole Macintosh HD did just nothing. But interessting - as my mac started to index, all files where available for a short period of time, but after few minutes where gone, it got worse and after it was finished - there was the same situation as before. Lets see😊
When I search for files with Spotlight that are in my Dropbox folder, Spotlight correctly shows files that are in my Dropbox folders, but when I click on such files, nothing happens. Looking at the corresponding file in the Dropbox folder from Finder, I can see an icon from Dropbox: hovering over that icon, I see the message "couldn't communicate with a helper application". This happens both for files that are "online only" and for files that have already been downloaded (or set as "offline". I'm pretty sure that's been happening since the update to Ventura 13.1 (22C65).
If I simply double click on a file in a Dropbox folder from Finder, I can open that file (if it's offline, Dropbox first downloads the file).
- Hannah
Dropbox Community Moderator
Thanks for reporting this, lorebett.
Can you try to rebuild the Spotlight index, to see if that helps at all?
Same problem here on Ventura. All iWork documents are broken in Spotlight and the new Silicon Dropbox. Rebuild Spotlight doesn't help.
Another problem is that Dropbox does not automatically download the files. That's just annoying.
Even after completely removing both the Dropbox app and the Dropbox directory, the dead entries remain in Spotlight:
This is very annoying, as my Spotlight is now spammed with dead entries. How can we get rid of them? I tried re-indexing Spotlight using "mdutil -i on /" and "mdutil -E /" but the dead entries left over by Dropbox remain.
It does help to rebuild the index, but only for the first few minutes; after a few minutes (maybe after the index has been completely rebuilt?) the problem shows up exactly the same, again.
To summarize, this does not fix the issues.
Please, keep in mind that this makes Spotlight with Dropbox completely unusable...
