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Forum Discussion

dragononamac's avatar
dragononamac
Collaborator | Level 8
3 years ago
Solved

What is going on with Dropbox on MacOS? Spotlight and Finder don't work!!

Dropbox randomly updated to some new version and said everything is moving to Library/CloudStorage or something like that, now I can't open files directly in Spotlight OR find using folder search i...
desktop
Dropbox Pro
Mac
Hannah's avatar
Hannah
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
3 years ago

Hey eheilner, since the Dropbox folder was moved to a new location, it needs to be re-indexed.

 

Can you please open the Dropbox folder, wait a little bit and then retry the search, to see if it works?

 

If not, you might need to re-index the entire disk.

 

Note: The article mentions the 'Documents' folder, but you need to use the 'Dropbox' folder instead.

jat1971's avatar
jat1971
Helpful | Level 6
3 years ago

This idea that you just need to let dropbox re-index on a Mac is just nonsense.

Finder and spotlight will find files on your mac, located in dropbox - but it will not allow you to search for files within the dropbox folder. So if you have sets of files and you just wish to search for the right one, within a subfolder you can't. You have to go through all hits on your harddrive and try find the one you want (in the folder you wanted to search). Its a complete mess and this is entirely down to 2 large companies behaving like children.

 

So please dropbox, as its your software that is incompatible with Apple products, fix this problem - including an easy option to remove dropbox from this new location on a mac. 

  • Gregor M.'s avatar
    Gregor M.
    Helpful | Level 6
    3 years ago

    Wow. So they never fixed it. Amazing.

     

    I sent this to DB support today 16 September 2023 on twitter:

     

    "Hi. After the Spring DropBox update did so much damage to my files on the MacBookPro M1, I had to rebuild my laptop and go back to a previous version of DropBox. I'm curious. Did you ever admit to the problem? And did you ever fix the problem? I've been a user since 2010, and I wouldn't dare update the software now. that's sad, considering what I pay each year for the subscription."

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

      Hi Gregor M., let's jump right into this! 

       

      If I understand this correctly, it sounds like you're facing some issues with Spotlight, and Finder, is that right? If not, feel free to correct me, and let me know more. 

       

      Would you be able to share some details, or even screenshots of what is exactly happening on your end, along with the Dropbox version that you use, in order for me to have a clear visual? 

       

      Keep me posted! 

      • EFARR's avatar
        EFARR
        New member | Level 2
        3 years ago

        I am having the same problems, no spotlight search with dropbox folders, wasting all kinds of time.

         

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