Can't open PDF files with new beta on my mac

[BJN]

Issue is that the file info says open with Dropbox, not Adobe. If I change back to Adobe then it opens. (Or if I open it from inside Adobe.) But I have hundreds of PDFs that now have the wrong app to open them. Wouldn't be a problem if they opened using Dropbox, but they don't. I can change open with info on each file, but that would be a huge pain. I checked the box to say change open with info for similar files, but it didn't have any impact.

[Burnt-On]

I too am having this problem with the latest Beta of Dropbox v163.3.5425 but not just with PDFs, it is happening with all files.

I'm running the Beta on a backup machine (Mac M1 2020) that is running macOS Ventura 13.0.1

I have followed all the instructions on this thread and none work.

This is what happens (All MS Apps) - When I double click a Microsoft document (Word/Excel/Powerpoint) that is in my Dropbox (now located in ~Libraries) the document downloads (great) and then opens in Dropbox.com in my browser (not so great). I want the file to open in the native application (Word/Excel/Powerpoint) on my Mac so I follow the instructions as follows (Using an Excel doc as the example here):

Right-click the file > Get info > Open with: (this says Dropbox) so I Change to Microsoft Excel from the list (that in fact has 'Default' in brackets beside the title).

I immediately get a Finder message pop-up saying:  "You don’t have permission to change the application for this document only. Do you want to change all similar documents to open with the application “Microsoft Excel”? "This change will apply to all documents with extension “.xlsx”."

Brilliant I think. This is exactly what I want. So I click continue... double-click the file in question again and voila. It opens in Excel on my Mac. Fantastic...

...problem is that when I try to open any other Excel doc in my Dropbox by double clicking, it downloads but we're back to square one and it opens in Dropbox.com in my browser so clearly the instruction to "change all similar documents to open with the application “Microsoft Excel?" hasn't been applied by Finder to files within the Dropbox folder.

Exactly the same thing happens with Adobe Files (Acrobat PDF, Illustrator AI, Indesign INDD) with the only difference being that they don't open in Dropbox.com in my browser; they just magnify momentarily on double-click after downloading as if they are about to activate the corresponding Adobe App but nothing happens.

I go through the same process with them; Right-click the file > Get info > Open with: (this says Dropbox) so I change to native app from the list (that again in fact has 'Default' in brackets beside the title).

I immediately get a Finder message pop-up saying:  "You don’t have permission to change the application for this document only. Do you want to change all similar documents to open with the application “[this is the adobe app in question and corresponds to the file type]”? "This change will apply to all documents with extension “[this is the extension for the Adobe file type in question]”."

Again I click continue... double click the file in question again and voila. It opens in the native Adobe App... but...

Exactly as with the MS files when I try to open any other file of the same type in my Dropbox by double clicking, it downloads but we're back to square one and it just magnifies momentarily on double click after downloading as if they are about to activate the corresponding Adobe App but nothing happens.

Again clearly the instruction to "change all similar documents to open with the application “[the Adobe file type in question]" hasn't been applied by Finder to files within the Dropbox folder.

[Hannah]

Hey @Burnt-On, thanks for the nudge here and sorry to see you're having trouble with this.

Are the files in question currently set to online-only or are they available offline?

If they're online-only, can you manually right-click them, and choose "make available offline" and let us know if that makes any difference?

[Burnt-On]

Hi @Hannah

I’m having the problem with both Dropbox files downloaded and with those that are online.

With those that are online I double click, they download and either open in DB app if a MS Doc or try to momentarily open but then don’t at all if they are Adobe.

I have tried selecting ‘Make Available Offline’ on numerous files …so I go from the cloud icon to the green circle with the tick (showing the file is downloaded) before I try to open and exactly the same things happen as I have previously described.

[Hannah]

Thanks for the update here.

Would you mind sending us a screenshot of what you see when you try to open both online-only files and available offline ones?

[aligfx]

I've switched to beta,

it was all seamless at the beginning ... 

• Started the onboarding session
• Got the information needed with the carousel walkthrough 
• Moved my files from Mac HD to a "secured location" 
• all files are synced online 

thats all great, but when making certain files available offline and it does get the "Green checkmark" not a single file opens 

with its default app, e.g. PDFs are not launching with Adobe Acrobat, PDSs are not launching with Photoshop, JPGs and PNGs are not launching with Mac native app "Preview"

Initially it was asking me to verify each file I open to "Open anyway" since I get the message "Unauthorized app" / Third party app which I solved 

but now — clicking on files won't launch their desired app unless I right click on every file and choose the app, since all have open with "Dropbox" by default.

welp

[MarkofLA]

Yes, I'm having the exact same problem. But not on my laptop (MacBook Pro running macOS Monterey), only on my desktop (iMac running macOS Ventura). So it must be something Ventura is not recognizing. I've done some digging around but just can't figure it out.

[MarkofLA]

Hi Walter,

I'm having the same problem. Here are my screenshots. As you can see, PDF icon shows up on my laptop (macOS Monterey) but not on my desktop (macOS Ventura).

[Jay]

Hi @aligfx, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Are you referring to the Dropbox desktop application beta, or the Mac OS Ventura Beta version?

This will help me to assist further!

[Walter]

Hey @MarkofLA, thanks for joining the discussion here and sorry to hear you're also having issues with this.

Can you please take a look at those files in your Dropbox folder and let me know if they're online only or available offline?

Did you reboot your computer or quit and relaunch the app since you first noticed this?

Any additional information is more than welcome!

[aligfx]

Correct, my current version is Ventura 13.0.1 (22A400)