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Photos in Local sync DropBox folder not showing thumbnails

I have a folder with over 20000 photos syncing locally on a Windows 11 Pro computer. When viewing the folder, the large icon view option in File Explorer is not showing the thumbnail of the photo. This used to be fine even a week ago, but now it is not.

Found an article mentioning that the Dropbox overlay icons needs to be higher priority in the registry and that has been confirmed. The Dropbox icons are the highest priority.

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Walter

Hey @jch05, sorry to hear about this.

Can you please clarify the status and version of the desktop app installed on your computer as shown in your taskbar?

If you could also send us a screenshot so that we can have a visual too, I'd appreciate it.

Thanks!

jch05

Dropbox is running v160.4.4703 and syncs are complete.

Here is screenshot of folder so you can see icons:

Walter

Are you running any 3rd party apps on your computer like OneDrive etc. @jch05?

jch05

Yes OneDrive is also in use.

Walter

Could you temporarily disable it and see if that helps improve matters @jch05?

jch05

Temporarily disabling OneDrive helps. Any ideas on how to get OneDrive and Dropbox to coexist?

Megan

Hey @jch05, since the thumbnails come back after you disable OneDrive, then that must be the culprit there.

I know it might not be ideal, but you can try disabling OneDrive when you need to check for the files' thumbnails, and enable it after you're done.

I'll leave this discussion open, so other users can suggest different workarounds too.

jinn

I'm encountering the exact same problem here but even if i disable OneDrive it still doesn't seem to help. my thumbnails still does not show pictures, its all just icon. its very frustrating. its not exactly cheap to maintain a cloud service annually, considering external hardisk is getting cheaper and faster now. Dropbox please provide a legit workable solution or the industry has just become more competitive for you.

jinn

i know this issue has been brought up over and over again but dropbox seems like does not have a proper solution up till this day.

i have to literally guess what picture is it and click one by one to check as i need to use them for my presentation. bear in mind, i have literally 10's and thousand of pictures in this folder.

to sort of "speed" this up, i have to look through my phone to which pictures i need and then locate it in my laptop using dates and number of the picture.

its super frustrating and super backward in terms of technology. dropbox was suppose to ease my synchronizing work between devices and now here i am back to year 1990 tech. well at least 1990 we dont need to pay subscription for the tech at that time.

Megan

Hi @jinn, thanks for posting to our Community!

We are aware of this issue affecting Windows 10 + Windows 11 users in which thumbnail previews for Online-Only files are not generating within File Explorer.

Dropbox engineers are aware of the problem and are working on a solution. We'll provide updates as soon as we receive them.

In the meantime, can you try to switch your files to offline, to see if you can preview the thumbnails?

Thank you!

Archigos

Setup:

Windows 11 Pro Beta 23H2 22635.2915

Dropbox Version 190.3.6210 (Claims up to date)

I also have an iMac running latest version of Ventura, but I haven't tested this on there yet.

Sometime in the last month or two, thumbnails in my Dropbox folder stopped showing up properly. This applies to File Explorer. I write a lot of tutorials and take screenshots often (mostly partial screen and rarely fullscreen). The last image I had in the folder that I know of was from the middle of August, so it broke at some point after that but unsure when.

I've searched this forum a lot about this issue and saw at least one post where Dropbox admits to this issue and claims that their research points to a third party app(s) breaking this. However, no app was mentioned for me to troubleshoot this. Before anyone replies with the "Make online only" option, yes, this does work, but that's pointless as that means when I see the image I need I have to redownload it again (breaking the thumbnail again) to use this image. Any information on possible apps causing this issue, please let me know so I can judge if those apps are worth this hassle and possibly uninstall them if no longer needed.

I have severe memory issues due to disability and can't for the life of me think of any new software I have installed recently that would cause this, I have however updated currently installed apps to new versions that potentially could cause issues. The only thing that comes to mind off hand is I use XnViewMP and have updated that a few times. I did search that app and messed with the settings for over an hour fiddling with anything and everything thumbnail related to see if it changed anything and no matter what I did (short of uninstalling it) has had no effect and thumbnails are still broken.

As I said above, this applies to File Explorer, but strangely Total Commander doesn't have this issue. (If I use the "Make online only" option, if I go to that directory in TC, it forces me to download the ENTIRE directory for offline before opening the folder.)

jacoblas

The issue with thumbnails in the Dropbox folder on Windows 11 Pro Beta started occurring within the last month or two.
Dropbox acknowledges the problem and attributes it to potential third-party apps, but the specific app causing the issue is unknown.
Making files online only resolves the problem, but it's inconvenient as it requires redownloading images when needed.
The user has memory issues and hasn't installed new software but has updated existing apps, including XnViewMP.
Strangely, Total Commander doesn't exhibit the thumbnail issue, providing a workaround for accessing files without re-downloading them.