Thumbnail images not showing with Big Sur 11.2.3

[ekocha1]

My company recently upgraded my iMac to one with the Big Sur OS (v11.2.3) and none of the images in my Camera Uploads folder, for example, are showing thumbnail pics, only generic icons for JPGs.

However, if I open up an image and close it, then a thumbnail picture shows. I can't open and close the hundreds of images I have on Dropbox, so is there something quicker I can do to solve that problem?

[Jay]

Hi @ekocha1, thanks for messaging today!

Are you using Smart Sync on your account? 

Are the files online-only, or local? Is it only in the camera upload folder?

This will help me to assist further!

[ekocha1]

Hallo, Jay --

It seems to be only the Camera Uploads folder which isn't showing thumbnails and, since I wrote in, some random ones have shown up. But many are still just generic icons. I don't think I have Smart Sync on. Files are online only until I copy them onto an external HD.

Thanks!

[Jay]

If files are online-only, then you do have Smart Sync enabled.

If the files are local, do the thumbnails appear?

[ekocha1]

Yes, I actually copied over the files that didn't show up to an external HD (just to test if they would) and the thumbnail images showed up.

[Jay]

This would be normal behavior then. Since the files are online-only, there is no locally stored data about the file itself, so there wouldn't be a preview image.

For files that are local, just like a normal file outside the Dropbox folder, then the thumbnails would appear normally.

[ekocha1]

In that case, how can I stop Smart Sync? 

If I can't stop it, does that mean that I have to copy all the Camera Uploads to an external and THEN they'll show up online as well? 

Thanks,

Erika

[Jay]

You can disable Smart Sync entirely from the website, by deselecting 'Dropbox system extension'.

Otherwise, you can right click the camera uploads folder and then go to Smart Sync, Local, which will make all files in that folder local. It will also apply to any new files appearing in that folder.

[ekocha1]

I will try that, Jay. But if I make the folder "local," does that mean I have to manually move them to Dropbox to make sure they're backed up? Or will that happen in the background (backup to DB as well as having them also on my computer)?

Thanks,

Erika

[Jay · Accepted solution]

Anything in the Dropbox folder is visible and synced to the Dropbox site, if there's a green tick next to it. Online-only files will have a cloud icon, meaning they are already on the Dropbox site, but don't take up space on the machine.

Marking a folder as local only means that the files from the Dropbox site are now also physically taking up space on your computer, since the primary reason for Smart Sync is to save space, so you won't need to move them.

If you need any more details, feel free to message back!