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Alphabet slider on the Dropbox app on iOS doesn't work with folders

On Dropbox app iPhone iOS 15
There is an alphabet slider that you can use to jump to different parts of your dropbox quickly. You used to be able to use it for any file in dropbox, but now it doesn’t work for folders. is there a possibility of correcting the situation so that the alphabet slider also works for the photos like it used to? I currently have 160 folders and when I want to search through them I can either jump to the very top or the very bottom. It won’t take me to the letter I click on which can be time consuming when you are looking for certain things a lot of the time. is it possible to fix the alphabet slider to work with the folders again?

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Accepted answers

awestort

Hello! Unfortunately we no longer have the alphabet slider, but we do have a new file scrubber to help you quickly scroll through your files. If you tap, hold, and drag the file scrubber down you should be able to easily scroll through your content. When scrolling through files specifically, you'll be able to see the first letter of the files you're scrolling through as well. I have included a screenshot of what the experience looks like below! Hope this helps.

All comments

Hannah

Hey @Megrstephens, thanks for coming to us with this.

Can you double-check if you have the latest version of the Dropbox app? Do you see any updates in your app store?

And is the alphabet slider currently working, but only for files? Or has it disappeared completely?

Keep me posted.

Megrstephens

I have the latest version, I do not see any updates available for the Dropbox app. The alphabet slider only works for Files, it does not work for folders.

Jay

Hi @Megrstephens, thanks for your patience. Could you try going to Settings and choose Folders on top? This should allow the right-hand index to work.

ch4rl13

Hi Jay,

I have the same problem and have followed your advice with no success - clicking anywhere on the alphabet always takes me straight to the bottom of my files list - I’m unable to select a particular letter.

many thanks for your help,

charlie

Walter

Hi @ch4rl13, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

Could you please clarify your device's OS version and the version of the Dropbox mobile app installed there as well?

Also, have you tried clearing the app's cache at all since you first noticed this?

ch4rl13

Hi Walter,

I’m using Dropbox version 314.2.2 on my iPad mini (iPadOS 16.2).
I have cleared the cache, which hasn’t made any difference.

The same thing happens on my iPhone, so I don’t think it’s my end.

Thanks,
Charlie

Jay

Hi @ch4rl13, have you tried restarting your device entirely after clearing the cache?

awestort

Broadwaymhl

Since you see how valuable the alphabet slider is for your community, why don't you consider adding it back? It's clearly so important to so many of your customers. This file scrubber is not as easy to use as what existed before, but it's better than nothing. Is it really difficult for you to add back the extremely useful alphabet slider? Take a look at what everyone else is writing about this! Thank you Michael

TroyP

To all the "geniuses" at the drop box bar - this is not what we want. Not as fast. Pretty pathetic "fix". We actually pay for your services and don't ask for much. We just want it to stay the same easy platform it was before. How much code room does the alphabet navigation actually take up? You need to get back to the drawing board and do better. I am pretty sure this is not going to be acceptable to any of the users that have complained or to those that did not.

GreggM

I agree. The newer scroll button is better than the old “upgraded” tiny button with 3 lines, which was an absolute horror to use. The new button is larger and easier to engage, and the letter indication beside it is nice, but still not as fast/easy/efficient/enjoyable as the original alphabet display index.
(It’s still kind of clunky, slow, too small, and imprecise)

You spoiled us!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE I AM BEGGING YOU, to bring the original alphabet index list back!!!

SConnon

There is no scrubber on my iPhone 10 with the latest iOS and latest Dropbox 372.2.4

Hannah

Thanks for letting us know, @SConnon.

Can you open the Dropbox app, tap on "account", then on the gear icon and then on "clear cache", to see if that helps?

SConnon

I cleared cache, closed the Dropbox app, opened the app and it looks like there are no local files on my phone anymore. I waited for them to all download to my phone again but still no scrubber when i hold the 3 dots to the right of a filename. i have hundreds of files in this particular folder. Another folder with many folders plus files behaves no differently.

Megan

Hey there @SConnon!

When did you first notice this behavior?

Would you mind sending me a couple of screenshots, in order for me to have a visual idea too?

SConnon

I noticed it after the alphabet finder was removed from Dropbox and you told us a what you are calling a “scrubber” has replaced it. I have tried but failed to ever find anything resembling a scrubber or any kind of replacement for the alphabet finder. Please bring back the alphabet finder as it worked perfectly.

Hannah

Hey @SConnon, thanks for your feedback and for the update here.

You mentioned holding the 3 dots to the right of a file name in order to see the scrubber, however, you don't need to do that to see it.

If you simply scroll down your screen, do you not see the scrubber at all?

SConnon

I scroll in my Dropbox all the time, as I have a lot of files, and I have never seen a scrubber on my iPhone or iPad.

Hannah

Hmm, that's strange, it works fine on my iPhone.

If you haven't already, can you also uninstall and reinstall the app?

SConnon

I did uninstall and reinstall the app a month or so ago when you first mentioned a scrubber and I have emptied the cache several times now. I have never seen a scrubber. I only held the 3 dots down because I was doing anything I could possibly think of to find this thing you call a scrubber. Please bring back the alphabet finder, which worked perfectly.

SConnon

I finally found this scrubber feature you mentioned! It was apparently hiding behind my finger during active scrolling and so I wasn't seeing it. However, now that I have found it and tried it a few times, I find that it isn't useful for me and I will not use it going forward. Maybe its more useful for folders with thousands of files, but not useful for my folders with hundred of files. The Alphabet selector worked so well. I would love to see it come back.

Megrnorman

This is not an acceptable solution. It’s still is not as savvy as the alphabet bar, and it does not function as quickly either. Additionally, it does not extend to folders so you are still stuck using a regular arrow scrubber. So many people have asked for this to be resolved by bringing back the original alphabet scrubber. I realize that it may be difficult, clearly there seems to be some type of code conflict that you guys seem to be unable to resolve or something? Regardless, this isn’t a situation of people being stuck in the past and unable to let go of a function that’s no longer serving them. This function was extremely paramount in quickly, easily, and accurately navigating a dropbox with several hundreds of folders. Please take this time to really read through your now several threads regarding this issue and listen to your users. We do pay for service, and with that we have expectations we hope you uphold and I hope you decide to do better by your community base

Broadwaymhl

Agreed!

GreggM

Well-spoken. I could not agree more.
Dropbox, PLEASE help us!!