Files won't open in Chrome or Safari

[categreen]

Hi, I'm having the same issue as a lot of other people - when I try to access a file eg. Word online, a new window opens but this is blank. I can no longer open to edit and save in Dropbox without downloading the file and re-uploading. Dropbox no longer working on Safari, so have switched to Chrome. Have tried clearing cookies/ cache etc as per advice on other posts but this has not changed anything. Have checked for laptop updates - none available. This problem has been ongoing for a number of weeks. Thanks, Cate

[Walter]

Hey there @categreen; welcome to our Community and sorry to hear about this.

Can you please let me know if you get any different results on an incognito or private browsing window with no extensions and plugins running?

Thanks so much, Cate. 

[categreen]

Hi Walter, thanks - yes Chrome was set to Incognito, so I changed this to allow all cookies etc to see if this would fix the problem, but there is no change. I have been a dropbox user for years without any problems and without changing my settings. I can't understand why now it is not working for so many people?

Cate

[Daphne]

Would you mind sending a screenshot of the error that you're getting @categreen?

Also, which version of Safari are you using?

[categreen]

Hi, thank you - having spent some time with our IT department yesterday afternoon, we were unable to resolve the issue. Word online etc works on Sharepoint and via other channels, but not through Dropbox. I use Chrome because Dropbox doesn't seem like Safari anymore due to third party cookies or something like that. Our workaround is I now have the Dropbox app installed with smart sync and have added my most frequently used docs to my computer. So, the problem isn't solved, but it will be a bit easier to use rather than always using a browser. I was previously using the browser version to preserve storage on my Mac. I'm not sure if it affects things, but we are on Apple High Sierra - we are not permitted to update to later versions due to security concerns.

[categreen]

ps. there is no error message - it is just a new window with white space, then a rectangle sad face icon appears, no document, Cate

[Daphne · Accepted solution]

I see, thanks for clarifying that @categreen!

I could suggest disconnecting the Microsoft Online apps from your Dropbox account, and then reconnecting to see if that helps.

This won't affect how you can use/edit the files locally on your computer, so your current workaround can still be used.
 
You can find the steps on how to do this here.

[jessf]

I had the same issue in Chrome so I cleared cache/cookies, but that didn't help so I uninstalled and reinstalled app.  I tried again but didn't work.  I also tried in an incogneto window and that DOES work (required a Microsoft sign in / app authentication).  I cleared cookies/cahce again and tried again in regular Chrome but still brings up a blank white window.  I also tried Safari but I received an error message "The clearing cache option didn't work for me so I uninstalled the app and reinstalled but that didn't work either."  The Chrome issue has been going on for months and I've been using Firefox but I'd really prefer to use Chrome as it's my preferred browser on a MAC!  

[Hannah]

Hey @jessf, thanks for the nudge here. 

The thing is that if it works on other browsers or incognito, there must be some kind of security setting or plug-in you have installed on Chrome that's blocking the site.

Would it be possible to restore Chrome to its default settings and disable any browser plugins, to see if that helps? 

[jessf]

After I reset the settings, the Microsoft online sign in screen showed up (hasn't before except for incognito) so apparently that was the issue.  Wish I didn't have to reset all settings in order to fix it, but glad it's at least fixed!  Thanks.