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Dropbox Finder Folder not syncing

Someone shared a word document with me and its showing up on dropbox.com and its showing up in the dropbox app on my mac (which i don't use). I use the Dropbox folder directly in Finder. The document is not there. Does the Dropbox Finder folder not sync in the same way? Am I missing something here? Thanks in advance.

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Jay

Hi @wadeg, in order for the file to appear in Finder, you'll need to create a shared folder, invite the other user, and have the file located there.

It will sync to both machines, and you can edit it via your machine, so any changes will sync to the site, and then their device.

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Daphne

Hi @wadeg, thanks for reaching out to us here!

When you check the folder in the desktop app interface, what sync icon do you see next to the folder?

If you right click the folder from there, and choose "View in Finder", does this bring up the folder in the Finder window for you?

Let me know what you find!

wadeg

Well now I'm only seeing the Finder window which doesn't show the document, but the sync icon is green next to my Dropbox Finder folder. Yesterday I was able to access an actual dropbox app but today when I click Dropbox in my Applications, it just takes me to the Dropbox Finder window. But again, the document is in my dropbox online. Does the document need to be stored within a folder in dropbox to be synced? Also, any thoughts on why that dropbox app is no longer showing up? Thanks.

Daphne

Thanks for getting back to me here @wadeg.

To open up the app, can you just right click any file/folder within the Dropbox folder, and choose "View in Dropbox"?

Otherwise, if you have the app pinned to the Dock you can try launch it from there.

Does this folder happen to be a computer backup folder named "My Mac", at all?

Would you mind sending me a screenshot of how the folder appears within the app?

wadeg

There's no View in Dropbox option. See attached. I tried opening the dropbox app from my Applications (and the Doc) and it just opens the Finder folder when I click it.

Screen Shot 2021-02-25 at 2.07.58 PM.png

The document that's missing is called EMAIL TEMPLATES and below you can see that its in my dropbox online. But it's not synced in my Finder (above).

Screen Shot 2021-02-25 at 2.11.44 PM.png

Lusil

Hey @wadeg, could you also try fixing the hardlinks and permissions by following these steps (for Mac)?

wadeg

Done. But it didn't fix anything. The document is still not showing up in the Dropbox Finder.

Lusil

Thanks for trying that out, @wadeg.

Could you also try moving the files out, renaming it, and moving back in? Maybe that will trigger a change in behavior.

wadeg

Okay there's something very strange about all this. When I click on the dropbox icon in my menu bar (at the top of my screen on mac) and then click the globe icon, I am taken to this URL: https://www.dropbox.com/h

Below is the screengrab for that page. You'll see that the document (the one called EMAIL TEMPLATES) is there but notice how it doesn't have the 3 dots like the other docs. I'm assuming that has something to do with why it's not syncing in my Finder but...

Screen Shot 2021-03-02 at 10.46.56 AM.png

When I right click in my dropbox finder window and click "View on Dropbox.com", I am instead taken to this url: https://www.dropbox.com/home

And here you'll see that the layout is different and the document that was shared with me (EMAIL TEMPLATES) is NOT in there.

Screen Shot 2021-03-02 at 10.55.54 AM.png

So... what am I missing here? Again, this doc was shared with me and I thought it would auto-sync in my Finder but it's not doing that. How to fix?

Lusil

Ah I see, thanks for clarifying on this.

Since this is a shared file, it wouldn't appear in your Finder locally or your Files tab online.

Could you have a look at your Share tab and let me know if it's listed there?

wadeg

Yes it's there. So how does someone share a file with me that we can both work on and that I can keep synced in my Finder?

Jay

wadeg

Thanks Jay! This is what I asked way back at the beginning of this thread, but no one confirmed that it needed to be in a shared folder. Okay, I will do this now and make a note of this functionality for the future.

Jay

No probs, @wadeg! If you need any more details, feel free to message back!

Enjoy the remainder of your week!