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Dropbox Badge Doesn't show alert if someone viewing/editing file

Hi there, I really needs help here..

I and the office got the shared folders, but when we opened it, ussually dropbox badge going to show there's also my partner viewing/editing my files..

But recently, the badge doesn't show anything.. I did check on the internet, and theres nothing wrong..

And yeah my Dropbox plan is Basic Plan..

Can someone help me?

Thanks

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Megan

Hey there, @somewhere, thanks for posting today!

Let's check why Dropbox Badge might be acting weird on your end. Can you clarify the app's syncing status, along with the version that you're using?

You can find the version by locating your Dropbox icon on the menu bar, next to your WiFi and hovering your mouse over there.

Also one small clarification: can you see the badge on the side of your documents, but it gives you no info or it's not there at all?

Also, feel free to take a look at this Help Center article.

Looking forward to hearing back from you.

somewhere

Hi There..

The syncing status shown no issues, and my dropbox version is 185.4.6054..

And yes, I can see the badge but it gives me no information of who is editing right now, or viewing.. I did tested opening the file together with my partner, and their badge also shown no info..

I did check on the help article before, and we did all the things in the article. We also tried to login from the dropbox.com (web version) and opening any files together, and show nothing too..

somewhere

FYI :
I used a Microsoft Office 2016, and the files we are working on is Excel File..

Is it because we are using a free dropbox account or what?

We did check on our internet connection, and seems is not troubling

Megan

Hi @somewhere, are all the files .xls files? Does it only happen there?

Could you send me a screenshot, of how it looks on your end, please? It'll help me have a visual, too, thanks!

drb01

Hi - I am having exactly the same problem. I open a .xlsx file on two networked PCs and I just get the same blue Dropbox badge, nothing to say the file is already open on another PC on the same WiFi network.

- both Win 10 64bit PCs running 185.4.6054

- no syncing issues - both say "Up to date"

- Preferences -> General -> Dropbox Badge = "Always show"

- Preferences -> Notifications -> Notify me about: all are enabled on both PCs

I attach a screen dump. I just get a blue badge which is pretty useless. The file is located in F:\Dropbox\apps

Any idea why?

Megan

Hi @drb01, thanks for posting here!

First of all, thank you for providing me with all the necessary info, that was super helpful.

Can you try accessing the app's settings and disable the badge temporarily, then re-enable it again, just to check how this goes?

Keep me posted, and we'll take it from there!

drb01

Hi - I set Dropbox Badge to "Never Show" and pressed Apply on both PCs. As expected the badge disappeared. I then tried three things:

1) Set Dropbox Badge to "Show only if others present" on both PCs and press Apply. Open the same file on both PCs. I never got a badge.

2) Set Dropbox Badge to "Always Show" on both PCs and press Apply. Open the same file on both PCs. I just get a blue badge on both PCs. Surely it should now be alerting me to the fact that someone else is editing it?

3) I then made a change in the file on one PC and pressed Save. A download badge appeared on the other PC. I click on this and it asks me if I want to "Get the latest version". I click on this and it loads the edited version. If I make a change to the file on both PCs then Dropbox creates a new file.

Basically it doesn't seem to work as described. It would be really to good to know when I load a file if someone else is already editing it. Then I know to leave it alone!

drb01

I think this is all ok, but two questions:

1) How do I set Document Privacy Settings?

2) Which Dropbox plans is this meant to work with?

Hannah

Hey @drb01, regarding the Dropbox Badge not showing who is editing a file, when the file is open on a different computer, can you confirm that you opened the file while logged in to a different account than your own?

As for the document privacy settings, you should be able to find more info here.

drb01

I am using two separate PCs on the same WiFi network, Obviously they are both signed into the same Dropbox account so they can access the same files. The windows logins are different FWIW. Regarding privacy settings, all the collaboration stuff is turned on so no problems there.

Does this functionality only work with all Dropbox plans?

Hannah

Thanks for the clarification.

The badge actually should show you if someone else is editing the same file, only if it's a different collaborator on the file; it won't show the same account.

And yes indeed, the Dropbox Badge is available to all our plans.

I hope this clarifies things!

drb01

What exactly do you mean by a "different collaborator"?

Jay

Hi @drb01, if the file is in a shared folder, then the Badge will only activate if another separate Dropbox account accesses and edits the same file.

Using the same Dropbox account on different PCs will not activate the Badge. Just for clarification, are you allowing other users to access your Dropbox account and credentials via another PC?

drb01

Yes I have multiple PCs and Android devices accessing the same Dropbox account with the same login. I thought that was the whole point of Dropbox!! So I am very surprised this badge thing doesn't work in that scenario. Is there a better way for multiple devices to access all the files in one Dropbox account?

Megan

Hi @drb01, you can always use Paper, if this is something that would fit your needs.

Other than that, I'll let the thread open, so that other users can also share their thoughts, and workarounds in regards to this.

If you need anything else, let us know!