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pdf files in dropbox folders will not open in MacOS Safari

I'm running Dropbox on MacOS Ventura. I tend to bookmark pdf files in Safari for quick access. I'm finding that pdf files in Dropbox folders will no longer open in Safari. However, if I move the pdf out of Dropbox, it opens fine.

This is a new issue. Has never been a problem before.

I cleared the Safari cache.

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LynnDbx

Thank you so much for the detailed information! I've taken a further look, and we believe you are hitting a known issue on macOS 13.4. Apple has confirmed that a fix for this behavior is in macOS 13.5 and I've personally confirmed this works on macOS 13.5 as well.

macOS 13.5 is currently in Beta and should release to the general population sometime in July (they haven't published an exact date yet). Please let us know if this continues to happen after updating to macOS 13.5 when that update becomes available. Unfortunately there is not a workaround that Dropbox can do on our side so we have to wait for the macOS update.

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Walter

Hey @Glenn M.5 , sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

Can you please try another browser and/or a private browsing window with no extensions or plugins running and let us know if you notice any difference?

Thanks!

Glenn M.5

If I open in Chrome, no problem. Definitely a Safari/Dropbox issue.

Hannah

Thanks for the update here, @Glenn M.5.

You can try clearing Safari's cache to see if that helps as well.

Glenn M.5

I cleared the cache using the option in Safari's Develop menu. No difference.

Walter

Does the issue persist on a private browsing window as well @Glenn M.5 ?

If so, have you ensured that your browser's version is up to date?

Glenn M.5

Same problem with private browsing on. The message is "Failed to open page," regardless of whether private browsing is on or off.

Glenn M.5

I believe I found the source of the problem but not a solution. On a separate (and fully up to date Mac) pdf files in dropbox were opening fine in Safari. This Mac had the dropbox location as /Users/username/Dropbox. However, the dropbox app updated moving the folder to /Users/username/CloudStorage/Dropbox. Now the issue is happening on this Mac, as well. It's the new location that's giving problems. The message in Safari is "Safari Can't Open the Page."

Dropbox folks, please fix this.

Rich

@Glenn M.5 wrote:
However, the dropbox app updated moving the folder to /Users/username/CloudStorage/Dropbox. Now the issue is happening on this Mac, as well.

Are the files marked as Available offline, or Online-only? Mark one as Available offline and see if the issue persists for that file.

Glenn M.5

The files are already downloaded, hence, available offline. If I move pdf files out of dropbox, they open fine in Safari. If you have a Mac available, give it a try. Place a pdf in a Dropbox folder, then with Safari, use File>Open File... and see if it opens.

Glenn M.5

I already have and reported earlier in this thread. Private browsing in safari does not work. There are no plugins or extensions in my safari app. Chrome works fine.

Glenn M.5

@Walter @Hannah @Rich Expanding on the issue, I tested and am finding that the problem exists with png, jpg and tiff files, as well. None of these open in Safari if they are in Dropbox.

My configuration:

Mac M2 Ventura 13.4.1

Safari 16.5.1

DropBox app 177.4.5399

Dropbox folder is installed /Users/username/Library/CloudStorage

Tested on two different computers, each with this configuration. Same problem.

LynnDbx

Glenn M.5

Thank you very much for the follow up!

Glenn M.5

I just installed OS 13.5 and am happy to verify that this, indeed, solves the problem.

Thank you Dropbox team!

LynnDbx

Awesome! Thanks for reporting back.