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How can I see all files in Windows explorer without having to download all content first?

I am using desktop application on windows 10 and have Dropbox Family plan

So far I have seen that I had to download all my content, then right click on it to make it offline to see the file and folder listing

How can i see all the files and folders in windows explorer without having to download all content first.

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Hannah

Hi there, @DBmaparikh75, thanks for reaching out to us.

I'm not exactly sure I'm following you, so I'd like some clarifications.

The way things should work is you should be able to see all your files in the Dropbox folder (unless you've removed any folders through selective sync).

The files should be either online-only or available offline, depending on your preference and you need to right-click and choose "make available offline" or just double-click any online-only file you need to open.

What do you mean when you say that you're downloading all your content and then right-clicking on it to see the file and folder listing?

Do you mean that no files appear in your Dropbox folder at first?

Any additional info or clarifications would be really helpful.

Thanks.

DBmaparikh75

Let me rephrase question.

I have following synch setup for JMP_iph11.

Here is how my windows explorer looks., see I am not seeing "Camera uploads" folder

How do i see file listing and sub folder listing , something like below. As soon as I enable selective sync, it downloads content.

Rich

DBmaparikh75 wrote:
How do i see file listing and sub folder listing , something like below. As soon as I enable selective sync, it downloads content.

Go into Dropbox Preferences and set the Default sync state for new files to Online-only. Then go back into your Selective Sync settings and check the folders that you want to appear in Explorer. They'll sync as Online-only.

DBmaparikh75

Thanks I was not aware of this option. That still did not work for me.

When I experimented by checking the online-only box and then selecting a folder in selective sync, still resulted in everything to be downloaded.

Does the online only option work for totally new files only, meaning does it work only 1st time I am setting up drop box?

Hannah

Thanks for the clarifications and additional info, @DBmaparikh75.

So, just to confirm, when you're checking folders through your selective sync settings, instead of "online-only", they sync to your computer as "available offline" and are taking up hard drive space, is that right?

Can you let me know which Dropbox version you're using and what the sync status is?

You can see that by hovering over the Dropbox icon in your system tray.

DBmaparikh75

Yes, the problem is as you described.

Drop Box Version is : 221.4.5365

Nancy

Hey @DBmaparikh75! Hope it’s OK to jump in.

Can you also clarify the current syncing status of your Dropbox app?

If it says it’s up to date, can you right-click on the folders that have been downloaded to your computer and select the “Make online-only" option? Do they get removed from your hard drive then?

DBmaparikh75

Nancy the other ticket (https://www.dropboxforum.com/discussions/101001014/provide-an-option-to-only-download-the-metadata-of-a-file-without-downloading-th/829655/replies/830304) should not have been closed, as I do feel having a button to "skip downloading" or "keep online" from the status window of the app would be beneficial and is different from the current issue.

Also once everything is downloaded, “Make online-only" does remove the content and shows only the filename, folder listing and shows thumbnails. This is the behavior i am expecting without having to download full content.

linibean

Was this issue ever resolved? I'm having the same issue and it's infuriating. I don't have the harddrive space on my laptop to download my entire Dropbox folder first before making "online-only". Tried uninstalling/reinstalling with no luck. It either syncs the folders as "available offline" or I cannot see them on Windows at all. Older versions of Dropbox allowed you to select how to sync each folder upfront, seems that useability was removed for some unknown reason.