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Image previews in Explorer only showing the compressed preview for local files on Windows
Hello. Since the big Dropbox update in February 2025 I have been experiencing issues. I mainly use Dropbox in Windows file explorer, not on the Dropbox App / Site. I have Dropbox for Windows on 3 separate devices: (2) Windows 11 Laptops, and (1) Windows 10 Desktop - and I have am having the same issue on all devices. The main issue is image previews in the "preview pane" of the Windows file explorer. Before the update, if I had an image saved locally / set to "available offline", a full preview of the image would show up in the preview pane, just as it would if I was in a local folder on my computer, like my "Pictures" folder, or whatever. Also, images that were only in the cloud / set to "online only" would display a small compressed preview in the preview pane, which is fine. Since the February update, when I am in my Dropbox folder with images that have been downloaded locally, it will either only generate a small compressed preview in the preview pane, or no preview at all, and it takes a very long time for the preview to show up. However, the "online only" images are still behaving the same, showing only a small compressed preview in the preview pane, however the preview shows up faster than it does for a locally saved file... So strange. I do a lot of image editing and graphic design, so not being able to quickly scroll through my image folders and look at the previews puts a massive kink in my workflow. It has been driving me insane. It's like the Dropbox Windows app is having difficulty discerning which files are downloaded locally or just in the cloud. For some reason it is treating the downloaded files like they are still in the cloud, or even worse for some reason as sometimes a preview won't even load, compressed or otherwise. The green checkmark is there on the file, but the previews are compressed or don't show up at all. And this it not an intermittent problem, it is constant and has not gotten better since the update in February. I have been resorting to moving the images into a local folder on whichever device I am currently using so that I am able to scroll through them efficiently, and then re-upload them to the Dropbox folder when I am done working, and then download them to a local folder again on my next device. It is very annoying to do every time. There has to be a better way. I also checked the functionality of my OneDrive and iCloud folders in Windows, and they all show previews in the preview pane just fine, just like my local Windows folders. It is solely a Dropbox issue. I tried searching Reddit and could find nothing, so I started my own post on there, and there are a handful of other people that have come forward with the same problem. Someone from Dropbox commented on my Reddit post and suggested that I post on here, so here I am. Any help out there?? Thank you.Solved1KViews1like11Comments
My photos are not importing to Dropbox in order. There is no way to sort them by date created.
I am not storing photos on my computer so I'm only using your website to upload photos from my phone. I imported over 6000 photos last night and they are completely random, no order whatsoever! I want to see them in order of date created, oldest first.250Views1like9Comments
