Request: All files available offline by default

[Tim T.13]

Moving the Mac to the new File Provider is great - very happy this is finally happening and support on the new M1 is much better. Kudos!

Feature request: Really miss the feature to have Dropbox default to making all files downloaded and available for offline open/save. I will always, 100% of the time, want Dropbox to keep all my selected-to-sync files to also be downloaded and available for offline use. 

I know you can right-click to request offline availability, but this creates a bit of an unclear situation as you can't see by looking at a file in Finder whether it is supposed to be offline available or not.  I want this to just be the way Dropbox works.

Since there is the option to do this on a per file / folder basis using right-click, seems likely possible for Dropbox to make this effectively on-by-default for every file, with the user doing the gesture. 

[Tim T.13]

Exactly. The lack of the "New files available: offline by default" option in the latest builds (for some people) is exactly the problem that spawned this thread many months ago. I feel a bit like being gaslighted as there is regular chatter about right clicking to download (every time I need new files offline!) Or getting links to articles that show the old UI.

Many of us have this new UI that don't have this option. And it seems quite clear that the new UI is the experience for the future.

So the request from this thread stands:  want that option back that lets all files, no matter where they are added and when, to sync down to this current Mac and be offline, all the time, by default. This is the definition of the value of Dropbox to me, and until it returns, I cannot use the product. 

[dixius99]

I'm on an Intel Mac and I also don't have these options available.

[DolphinU1]

It is beyond my comprehension why Dropbox would make this change. I have a variety of Macs, and MacBook Pros. None of them have less than 8 TB of storage.  I suppose, storing some items "remotely only" would be an advantage to people with smaller amounts of storage. I just think having the SIMPLICITY of having ALL of your files ALWAYS up-to-date EVERYWHERE would be a wonderful marketing tool for Dropbox.  I suspect, these decisions are driven by marketing, not ease of use and customer satisfaction.  At some point, alternatives will have to be considered.

I'm also not a fan of moving Dropbox into the Library folder. The first thing I do when I get a new Mac is make the Library Folder visible all the time. I know what I'm doing (I think) so I'm careful with the Library. Dropbox moving into the Library folder will result in many more people turning on visibility of the Library where potential damage to the operating system can be done. Dropbox refers to this as a "safer" place.  I think the Library is a dangerous place.  I have also noticed, that when I search for a file and look at the path of that file it does NOT show the full path! Strangely, it begins with the Dropbox folder.

NO offense to women, many are brilliant with computers, but MY lovely wife could NEVER figure any of this out.

I found two websites that give information on how to return Dropbox to it's former glory. Although, the procedures will vary depending on whether you have an Intel or an Apple silicon Mac.  As discussed above. 

https://bytesbin.com/dropbox-not-working-on-macbook-fix/
See: Now click on the Sync tab and tap on Select folders.

https://bigtechquestion.com/2022/06/14/software/apps/force-dropbox-to-sync-all-files-mac/
See: Force all Dropbox files to sync

[Cp2022]

Thanks for the links, but please try to resist the temptation to make this gendered. I know lots of men, who like your 'lovely wife' would have no idea how to figure this out. 

[bhunt01]

Based on the comments I have read and playing with this, seems to me that if you want to "make available offline" your default:

Select all files/folders in root and right click, select make available offline

Then, and I don't know why this is necessary - perhaps I am impatient, click every single cloud symbol to force download. Just setting the white check in green circle via "make available offline" does not seem to do that without some help.

Create a new folder, let's call it DBRoot, in the root of Dropbox and make sure that one folder - DBRoot - is set to "make available offline"  then move everything into this. From here on in, create all future files and folders under DBRoot. I have not fully done this due to space caps. This will create a new file as far as Dropbox is concerned for every file you move and will probably require double the space until the old location files get removed from Dropbox history and I would not want to do that too quickly. But if you have enough space, this would appear to meet the feature request (feature re-instatement) while Dropbox folks dance on.

[Tim T.13]

I'm not sure this solution really meets the requirement as new files created on other computers don't seem to download automatically onto the all machines. You have to go back and re-click to make that folder offline available all the time. e.g. You make "MyOfflineFiles" folder available offline on ComputerA, and you add a new file to that folder in ComputerB. ComputerA will not automatically download that new file because that new file wasn't there when you made that request. 

The point is to have all your Dropbox files downloaded on a machine, all the time, e.g. so you can leave home on your laptop and know the files are there, even if you lose network. If you create a file on a different computer, and your laptop isn't auto-downloading that new file, you can still leave home without the file you need to work on. 

Making files available offline as a per-folder setting doesn't appear to work as a status that applies to all new files on all machines. It feels like a one-time action that needs to be re-run as new files are created. If I could right-click "Make available offline" on the main Dropbox folder, or on any sub-folder, and all future files put into that folder will download, then yes, that would meet the need. Just doesn't seem to be how it works.

This isn't new or novel, this is how Dropbox worked from inception. We just want that ability restored. And iCloud has this option.

[bhunt01]

I tested with files from another computer, albeit an iphone and found:

- if the file is created outside of a folder that is marked as "make available offline" then is does not appear on the mac and has a cloud symbol beside it when that directory is viewed from the mac

- if the file is created or moved to a folder that is marked as "make available offline" then the file is made available offline on the mac and is marked with a green check mark on the mac

So, I stand by my prior suggestion but add one additional note: if a file is created in a folder marked as "make available offline" even from another computer, and that file does not end up marked with a green check mark and made available offline when viewed from the folder where the "make available offline" request was made then that's a plain and simple bug. Not a feature request but a bug and should be reported as such.

[Tim T.13]

Thanks @bhunt01 ! I'll go and try a few more tests again. Had seen this not working at all a while back, but maybe now it is on track. Will follow-up tonight when back at my other devices.

[DolphinU1]

>> This isn't new or novel, this is how Dropbox worked from inception. We just want that ability restored. And iCloud has this option. <<

We've all had situations in life where we are trying to repair something, but the best solution is just to throw it away and buy something new. I wonder if we should start looking at alternatives, or talking about if there are alternatives that will work correctly?  I'm at the point now where I no longer trust this program. I find myself putting important files on a USB thumb drive so I KNOW I will have them.   My primary computer is a 2020 Mac Pro, I miss the days when I would switch on my MacBook Pro and I would see a notification from Dropbox a few seconds later saying "17 files were updated". THAT is how it SHOULD work.

Right now, I'm only using iCloud for my Contacts. I wonder how it compares?

[jessywang]

I use Dropbox on my Mac and iPhone to keep important files synchronized. All the files stored offline on my Mac from day 1 when I used Dropbox. I can sync files and access them from my iPhone. I can also choose to store some of them offline on my iPhone as needed. It meets my needs with no problem.

With the recent update on Mac version of Dropbox, it changed the default option to have all the files on my Mac to be online. I manually downloaded them to my Mac but most of them were changed back to online again. I have to have internet access and download them every time when I need them on my Mac. This is QUITE INCONVENIENT for me.

I don't know if there is any way to set the default to keep all the files offline on Mac, which is as same as before. If not, I may have to move all the files out of Dropbox to use other backup / synchronize tools. Thanks.