Thumbnail images not showing with Big Sur 11.2.3

Anything in the Dropbox folder is visible and synced to the Dropbox site, if there's a green tick next to it. Online-only files will have a cloud icon, meaning they are already on the Dropbox site, but don't take up space on the machine.

Marking a folder as local only means that the files from the Dropbox site are now also physically taking up space on your computer, since the primary reason for Smart Sync is to save space, so you won't need to move them.

If you need any more details, feel free to message back!

All comments

Hi @ekocha1, thanks for messaging today!

Are you using Smart Sync on your account?

Are the files online-only, or local? Is it only in the camera upload folder?

This will help me to assist further!

Hallo, Jay --

It seems to be only the Camera Uploads folder which isn't showing thumbnails and, since I wrote in, some random ones have shown up. But many are still just generic icons. I don't think I have Smart Sync on. Files are online only until I copy them onto an external HD.

Thanks!

If files are online-only, then you do have Smart Sync enabled.

If the files are local, do the thumbnails appear?

Yes, I actually copied over the files that didn't show up to an external HD (just to test if they would) and the thumbnail images showed up.

This would be normal behavior then. Since the files are online-only, there is no locally stored data about the file itself, so there wouldn't be a preview image.

For files that are local, just like a normal file outside the Dropbox folder, then the thumbnails would appear normally.

In that case, how can I stop Smart Sync?

If I can't stop it, does that mean that I have to copy all the Camera Uploads to an external and THEN they'll show up online as well?

Thanks,

Erika

You can disable Smart Sync entirely from the website, by deselecting 'Dropbox system extension'.

Otherwise, you can right click the camera uploads folder and then go to Smart Sync, Local, which will make all files in that folder local. It will also apply to any new files appearing in that folder.

I will try that, Jay. But if I make the folder "local," does that mean I have to manually move them to Dropbox to make sure they're backed up? Or will that happen in the background (backup to DB as well as having them also on my computer)?

Thanks,

Erika

April

I believe I understand the explanation of thumbnails not showing images BUT I don't want the images on my computer (to save space) AND I need to see the image (.jpg) (when only on dropbox) so I can easily organize them (without opening each file).

Is there a perfect solution that allows BOTH?

Hi @April, currently, there isn't an option to have both the thumbnails on files and for them to be online-only.

We appreciate all feedback on how to improve the Dropbox service and app.

Just replying to this thread because I am having the same issue. There used to be no problem seeing the thumbnail previews, even when they were just in Dropbox cloud, before I upgraded to Big Sur. Is this a new problem? It was very convenient to click on my dropbox folder in finder and then the folder of pictures I wanted to preview and see the thumbnails. Now all I see are cloud icons. I guess it is a Mac thing because on my Windows 11 machine I can see the thumbnails.

Walter

Hey @djrocks66, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

Does this happen with online only files or even files you've set to be available offline too?

What is the desktop app's exact version and status as shown in your menu bar at the moment?

Also, have you tried refreshing your Finder or rebooting your computer?

I am not home to check Dropbox version but I’m pretty sure it’s the latest. I keep all my files offline and never had this thumbnail problem before until I upgraded to Big Sur. Like I said… my Windows 11 computer shows the preview thumbnails. I have restarted my Mac and still no preview thumbnails.

Walter

I see; thanks for the additional information @djrocks66

Let me know the app's exact status and version when you get the chance and we'll take it from there.

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Hannah

Hey @djrocks66, apologies for the delay here, can you please follow these steps, to see if they help?

- Save any files that you have open and close any applications

- Click on the Apple icon in the top left of your screen

- Click on "force quit"

- Relaunch the Finder