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Unable to open "Online Only" files without setting them to "Local" first

A user at a company I provide IT support for just upgraded to Windows 10 Enterprise from Windows 10 Home. Upon creation of the new profile and setting up dropbox, it was noticed that the user is unable to open any files without setting the individual file to "local" prior to attempting to open. I searched through community posts and could find no solutions, just several generic answers and then "let's move this to emails" with no follow-up.

Already tried: uninstalling and reinstalling both apps, deleting all files and resyncing to "online only", using "selective sync" to unselect folders and readd them to the sync list. I'm sure there's other things that were tried but it's been quite a long day trying to simply access files without having to manually change the backup mode for each one.

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Megan

Hey @hunterm, welcome to our Community!

Does this happen with a specific file type or with all of them?

Also, does the user get any error messages when trying to double-click on online-only files, and if so, what is the message?

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

TracerW

I have this same problem, having just moved to Windows 11. The Dropbox app does not show any files or directories. It always worked perfectly on W10, and also on my iPad. (I can access all the files etc from W11 by going to the Dropbox.com website).

hunterm

It is with all files that are "online-only" until they've been marked "local"

The error message is different depending on the software that attempts to open the file but is normally some form of "this file may be corrupted" or "This file has an invalid file extension."

I don't want the user to have to download Over 50gb of files just to be able to access their cloud-based file storage.

hunterm

I'm not sure what you mean, the files and folders are showing fine in my scenario. The user I described is also not on W11. You may need to check the "selective syncing" option in the dropbox preferences and select all files.

hunterm

@Megan just to be clear, the first response is to you

TracerW

It seems that I can now access files via the Dropbox app (or directories on the pc) only so long as they are not marked selective sync. This seems to be different from the previous operation, and is different from my iPad app through which I can access all my Dropbox files, as I can via the Dropbox website. In order to view (or more particularly to copy files to another app such as a print or album application), I can unmark, say, a folder, “selective sync”. That folder then becomes instantly available to use or view from the pc. Having done so, I can return to the preferences and re-mark the folder “selective sync”, and it doesn’t then reside on my hard drive. This workaround works well for me.

hunterm

TracerW, your reply is still entirely unrelated to the issue that this thread is about. Thank you for your insights, but I'm waiting to hear back on the issue my end user is having.

Megan

Hi @TracerW & @hunterm!

Tracer, great troubleshooting steps on your end, and keep in mind that this is expected.

This is how our selective sync feature works, since it helps you remove files from your hard drive without deleting them from your device.

Also, Hunter, I'd suggest that your client contacts our support team.

They would need to check some account-specific info on their end in order to locate what could be causing this, and the best way to do so would be directly with them.

If you do so, feel free to send me the reference ticket number.

Thank you both!

hunterm

The support link you provided has 2 options: Contact a bot that provides irrelevant results, or post here. I am providing the support for this user, is there no more helpful method to continue contact on this issue?

Hannah

Hey @hunterm, sorry to jump in here.

Are you currently posting while logged in to the account that has the issue?

If this is an issue that this other user is facing, they (or you) would need to contact us from their account, like Megan suggested.

And if it's a paid account, you'd also be able to access live support, so you can resolve this even quicker.

NDR2

Hi Hannah, I have exactly the same issue as hunterm. Do you have a solution for that please?

Hannah

Hey @NDR2, thanks for the nudge.

Would you mind letting me know a bit more about the issue?

Are you getting some kind of error message when double-clicking on the online-only files?

What's your computer's OS and version and which version of Dropbox are you using?

You can see the Dropbox version, by hovering over your Dropbox icon.

NDR2

Hi Hannah, thanks for the reply. The OS is Windows 10 64-bit Version 22H2. The version of Dropbox is 196.4.6900. I get different error messages on different file types. Please see the attachment.

Error Messages.jpg

Hannah

Thanks for the screenshots, @NDR2.

Just to give some insight on why this might be happening, when you attempt to access an 'online-only' file that has been removed from your hard drive, Dropbox needs to first sync it down to the computer.

While we begin syncing the content immediately, it may take some time to completely sync and open the file.

Sync speed is impacted by the size of the file and the speed of your internet connection.

If you open the associated app that opens those files and then double-click on the online-only file, do you get these errors?

NDR2

Hi Hannah

Tried that with Word and Excel files and still the same.

Nancy

Hey @NDR2! Hope you don’t mind me jump in.

Can you please send me a screenshot of how these files show within your local Dropbox folder? I’d like to double check their syncing icons, and see what else we can try.

NDR2

Hi Nancy

Here is the screenshot Look of local dropbox folder.JPG

Nancy

Thanks for the screenshot! If you right click on one of the files with the grey cloud icon next to them, and choose “Make available offline”, are you able to open them normally, once their syncing icon becomes a green checkmark instead?

NDR2

Yes when I change a file to “Make available offline” icon change to green tick and can open the file.

NDR2

But when I change it back to "Make online-only" I cannot open the file again.

Nancy

Thanks for giving that a go! In this case, this sounds like expected behavior.

When a file is online-only on the Dropbox app, what you’re seeing is basically a placeholder of the original file on your device. So, you’ll need to select the option to make it available offline first, before being able to open it.

Unless you’re having space issues on the device, in which case I understand the need for online-only files, you can perhaps right click on your local Dropbox folder directly, and select everything to be available offline instead. This way, you should be able to open all of your files anytime.

NDR2

Could you please explain why I see my offline files/folders differently on 2 different PCs? Both PCs are Windows 10-64bit version 22H2. Thanks

PC1

Offline files - PC 1.jpg

PC2

Offline files - PC 2.jpg

Nancy

Are you referring to the lack of syncing icons when it comes to your second computer/PC2 perhaps?

If yes, can you please check that device and let me know the syncing status and app version of Dropbox there?

Also, if you try to open one of these files, do they open normally? Have you tried restarting your computer, and no syncing icons appear still?

NDR2

Yes, PC2 doesn't have any syncing icon and PC1 has a syncing icon on all files and folders. Yes, on both PCs files open normally. I restarted the PC2 multiple times but still no icons. Both PCs have Dropbox version 196.4.6900 and the syncing status "Your files are up to date"

Nancy

Thanks for giving that a go. Did you recently have any OS upgrades on your PC2?

If not, feel free to try out these steps to make sure there aren’t other apps on your device that use the remaining overlay icons of your Windows computer (Windows has in general a limit of 15, and 4 of them are used by default by your OS). If there are more than 15, then the Dropbox icons or context menus may not show.