Cannot Open Word Documents in Dropbox

[HouseBlend]

I am synced to open Dropbox documents in the online-only mode on my Surface Pro since it doesnt have a ton of hard drive memory.   That has worked well for several years.  Recently, my Surface Pro has been unable to open Word documents stored stored in Dropbox. Instead, I get the "Unspecified Error" message.   I can open pdf files stored in Dropbox without a problem.   What changed? How do I resolve this?   I have updated my Windows and Dropbox  apps.  Thanks.

[Megan · Accepted solution]

Hi @HouseBlend, let's jump right into this! 

How are you trying to open these online-only files? Are you double clicking on them, or right-clicking the file or folder and selecting Make available offline and then trying to open them?

Feel free to also send me a screenshot of the error you mentioned above. 

Keep me posted!

[HouseBlend]

Mega, thanks so much for your reply!  Here is a screenshot of the error message:

 

In the past, I have ALWAYS simply double clicked the Word file to open it in Dropbox.  That is when I now get the error message.  At your suggestion, I tried "Make Available Offline."   That alone did not open the Word document, but after doing that I was able to double click and open the Word document!  Thank you!  I previously never had to take the step of clicking "Make Available Offline."   Previously i could simply double click the documet and it would open .  This seems like a more tortuous path to take to access the document, but if that is what it now required then I'll do it! 

It appears that the documents that I open this way remain available offline unless i take the extra step to convert it back to Available Online.   Again, this seems like a tortuous path, but since I need to save space on my Surface Pro's hard drive it seems like a necessary extra step.     

Finally, after all my whining about torturous paths and extra steps, I have a very dim memory of POSSIBLY changing the Dropbox folders on my Surface Pro from "Available Offline" to "Online Only," again to save hard disc space.   That might explain why I must now take these extra steps that I'm describing?   

Thank you once again for your assistance!  I deeply appreciate it!  I welcome any further comments you might have about what I have written.

My best to you.

[Megan]

Hi @HouseBlend, awesome, I am glad this workaround works for now! 

Keep in mind that Dropbox engineers are aware of the problem you mentioned, and are working on a solution. Sorry for any inconvenience this is causing. I'll update you shortly on this issue.

Thanks!

[Shdhin]

[removed per the Dropbox Community Guidelines] My gmail account but canot open my dropbox. Places help me

[Hannah]

Hey @Shdhin, sorry to see you're having trouble.

Can you give us some more details as to what the problem is?

Are you having trouble logging into your account, because you don't have access to the email address?

[amotawi]

I still can't open word files from desktop despite making them available offline, I have to copy them out of dropbox folder to open, any suggestions? This is highly inconvenient. 

[Nancy]

I’m sorry to hear this, @amotawi. Can you also send me a screenshot of any errors you may be getting? I’d also like one more screenshot showing the syncing icon(s) next to the files you can’t open. 

Finally, what’s the syncing status and app version of the Dropbox app on your device?