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Smart Sync - Windows Explorer Search Not Working

I am testing Smart Sync for our team. All fine but when files are 'Online Only', Windows Explorer search can't fined them. I have tried a few PCs in our team and all have the same problem, so I dont think it is an individual PC issue. We are all running Windows 10. Any ideas?

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Lucio

The Windows search functionality, that allows finding files set to online-only through the Smart Sync feature, is now available on computers with versions of Windows 8 and above, starting with the beta version 60.3 of the Dropbox desktop application that you can find here.

When this is available in the stable version 60.4 next week, your computer should automatically update and receive the fix.

Thanks to all that reported this and we appreciate your patience on this matter.

Happy syncing!

All comments

Rich

I don't know if that's the intended outcome or not, but it would make sense. The files aren't in Explorer anymore, so Windows might not be able to index them.

bwhight

@Rich wrote:
I don't know if that's the intended outcome or not, but it would make sense. The files aren't in Explorer anymore, so Windows might not be able to index them.

Thanks Rich. Im pretty sure the idea is the files work in exactly the same way, so are searchable when 'Online Only'. Dropbox Support have said they are looking at it, but a couple of weeks have passed now without an update.

LeeCujes

We're having the exact same issue on certain Windows 10 installations - some but not all.

Jane

Hey @LeeCujes,

Welcome to the Dropbox Community, glad to work on that with you!

It is my understanding that this has been a team-wide issue. Please keep in mind that, because SmartSynced files are indexed on your computer (they leave a placeholder), this shouldn’t have been occurring. To my mind, since you mention that it doesn’t affect all devices on your team, it’s OS-specific, therefore it has to do with the way your files are indexed locally. Just as a first troubleshooting step, could you please make sure that Dropbox is included on the indexing options of these devices (you may find more information if you run a google-search for it)?

If this persists and obstructs functionality, I’d suggest that you raised a ticket with the team, describing the case and letting us know the users and devices that are affected.

I’d be more than glad to troubleshoot this with you, if you send me a ticket ID in your reply!

Thanks in advance,

JaneA

LeeCujes

Thanks for your response JaneA.

I can confirm that Dropbox is included in the "Indexed Locations". I've confirmed the Windows 10 indexing options are the same as those on a machine which is searching as intended.

Further, I have rebuilt the search index from scratch - no result.

It is as though the "online only" stubs are invisible to Windows search on this machine.

Any assistance greatly appreciated.

Regards

Lee

LeeCujes

I made a quick screencast demonstrating the behaviour - showing a folder with 'online only' stubs, and Windows refusing to show the files in a search. Screencast: http://screencast-o-matic.com/watch/cbhTXMXpxf

Jane

Hey @LeeCujes,

Thanks for your prompt reply and the screencast, much appreciated!

Please keep in mind that at the moment I can't load your screencast on my device, for security reasons, though, because I feel that we can figure out a solution together, I'd have to ask you to send it in to me on a ticket, where I could check the accounts of the affected members. Please write in to us and let me know a ticket ID here, so that I follow-up with you.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation, looking forward to hearing back from you!

Warm regards,

JaneA

stephanb

This does not work on my end either. Windows 10. Is this supposed to work? i.e, is it supported? I can only search locally synced content that is indexed.

Jane

Hey @stephanb,

Happy to work on this issue with you, since this shouldn't be happening.

Online only files are indexed normally on your computer, therefore the search should have looked into your computer, as if these files took up physical space.

Because I can see that you have already opened a new ticket with us, could you reply there, in order to check the case?

Thanks for your cooperation!

Warm regards,

JaneA

Jeffrey S.31

Hi,

Has this issue been resolved? We are having the same problem on Windows 10 machines as well.

Thank you.

Mark

Have you tried installing the most recent versions of Dropbox to see if that helps?

www.dropbox.com/downloading

universlman

I have been struggling with this issue for years with XP & 7. This is the best description and demonstration by Lee that I have seen for a problem that is mostly bewildering the various communities, who mostly act like they do not really understand the problem. Why should searching in Google (the whole world) take a fraction of a second, and searching my hard drive in Windows takes up to ten minutes or more - and misses most files searched for - indexed or not??

peterlvilim

Hey everyone!

I'm an engineer at Dropbox. We are aware of an issue with Windows 10 that causes this behavior and are actively investigating it. Stay tuned here for updates.

Jason9

Looks like this problem has been investigated for 4 weeks. Any news?

Jane

Hey @Jason9, I’ll make sure to update the thread here once I have news on the progress of the matter internally, thanks for checking in with us on the Dropbox Forum on the progress of the investigation!

In any event, I’ve made sure to transfer your comments on to our team experts, though please don’t hesitate to get back in touch with us at any time in case you’d like to share your thoughts or you’d need further assistance. Cheers!

brianchris

Just verifying there is no solution to this problem yet, correct? Thanks!

SteveWeston

If there is another thread tracking this, would you please let the community know the status of this? It is still occurring in our Windows 10 installation of Dropbox.

mills

Has this been updated or solved? I'm still having the same problem where Windows 10 is not able to search Online-Only files in Explorer. I also rebuilt the indexed locations and confirmed Dropbox is listed.

Thank you

grahamaikman

Youve probably got indexing switched off, "control panel" search for indexing "then rebuild index" or tick "index this drive" where your dropbox is located

SteveWeston

No this is not the problem. Done that multiple times.

brianchris

grahamaikman, I appreciate your desire to help, but it seems as though DropBox representatives have confirmed this problem to be a "known issue" earlier in this very thread. Its seemingly just taking them a very long time (many months, or longer) to solve this problem. As those DropBox representatives probably alreay know, the inability to search offline files in Windows makes the (otherwise incredible) "SmartSync" feature pretty worthless. That is because, if most are your files are offline files, then the only way to find them is to manually plow through all your DropBox files and folders. Without paying extra for the "SmartSync" feature (as we do), we would have had full search of all of our DropBox files and folders for these past many months. Hopefully DropBox will solve this problem soon.

emelep

Indexing is definitely on. I will rebuild it, but it is already on.

Ross_S

Hi all,

We are currently working on this issue and I hope to bring you a concrete update soon. At this point all I'm able to share is simply that we're activley persuing a solution here. I'll update more when I have a timeline on the fix.

Many thanks for highlighting here!

xuan-minh

Following to get updates on this issue.

Sam R.2

Also having this issue, will be following this thread to keep updated.

Misiaaaabella

kudos

Grayem

Following this - have the same issue.

Workaround was to locally sync the files, which defeats the purpose of smart sync! :-)

anjaporter

I imagine we can still use the search function on the web version which might at least indicate where a file is stored for easier way of navigating to it in File Explorer... not ideal but a workaround in the meantime.

ooninay

True, and thank goodness dropbox search online works as well as it does, but realistically I'd probably only do this as a last resort... it means switching to my browser, going to the Dropbox website and logging in if not logged in already, doing the search, then manually navigating to the file folder in Windows where the file I need is. So not something I'd ever do unless I was desperate. This is actually such a big issue for me because of the way that I work that it means I'm not using Dropbox at all until it gets resolved. Back to OneDrive (which I notice continues to improve and also has the equivalent of Smart Sync, but without the additional fee and searching works.)

SteveWeston

Agreed. Same here. We are in process of changing our business account over to OneDrive. We are testing now, but if this does not get resolved ASAP, we have no choice. DROPBOX MODERATOR: ANY UPDATES?