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Can't open any files from my Android phone
I got a new Android phone about three weeks ago. When I accessed my Dropbox files, I was able to open some and not others. Now I am unable to open any files on the phone. Instead, I receive this message: "This file can't be previewed. To open this file, try a computer or another app." They will not download, export, or be made available offline. However, I can open all the same files on my desktop computer with no problems. I also tried connecting to my Android Dropbox to my desktop Dropbox and starred the item to see if that would help. Still no success. Why can't I open the files on my phone? Thank you for your help.
It seems like the device itself isn't allowing the Dropbox app to access the internet to download files.
There is a possibility that a proxy, VPN, firewall, security software, or even ISP/router issues could be restricting traffic to the following Dropbox domains.
I'd recommend checking all of these possibilities, and try connecting to a different WiFi network, or use cellular data, to see if there is any difference.
33 Replies
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- Mark
Super User II
Do you have an appropriate application on your phone to open them?
- I have Microsoft Office on my phone, and it opens Word files outside of Dropbox just fine. My phone also opens PDFs outside of Dropbox with no problem. But within the Dropbox app, nothing opens.
- One more thing. On the Dropbox website I can open the same files with my phone that won't open in the app.
- I have Android 12 and Dropbox app version 260.2.2.
- I'm not sure how to include a screenshot in this post; if you explain how to do it, I'd be happy to. But regardless of the file I open, it tries for about a minute before I finally get the message "This file can't be previewed. To open this file, try a computer or another app."
- Megan
Dropbox Community Moderator
You should be able to click the little camera icon on your response and attach your file there.
Does that happen with specific file types only?
Feel free to also have a look at this Help Center article. - I'm sorry, but there is no camera icon on my respone. I can copy and paste any text, but I find no option to attach an image.
The only file types I have are docx, pdf, and xls. I can't open any of them with my phone. The file sizes range from 6-170 KB, which is well below the limits outlined in the article you recommended. - JayHi jdt34, could you try offlining the files first in the mobile app and then try to preview them?
