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Default sync state for new files: "Available offline" is not working on the Dropbox desktop app

Starting a new discussion because the last one (titled: "Make available offline" is not working for me") was suddenly closed to replies, without a successful resolution.

In Options, I set the Default sync state for new files to "Available offline". This does not stay, and files are randomly staying online-only until I open them - which is completely useless considering my work is done offline 99% of the time.

(before the File Provider "upgrade", it would let me select the radio box, but the setting was not saved upon revisiting the options page. After the "upgrade", the radio box cannot be selected at all.)

This is occuring on every single Mac that I've checked for the entirety of 2025. Updates, fresh installs.

In February 2025:

Dropbox engineers are aware of the problem and are working on a solution.

My support tickets have been closed without resolution, and included amazing advice such as this from Samuel, Mar 20, 2025 😅

As we are still looking into the issue, I would like to provide you with a temporary workaround, that we can suggest where you can try to install the Microsoft store app - [link to microsoft store]

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Comments

Walter

Hi there @D P - thanks for bringing this to our attention and sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

Could you let me know your ticket numbers so that I can locate them in our system?

If you'd like to troubleshoot this, we'd need some additional information as well, such as the exact OS of your computer(s) and the version of the Dropbox app too.

Thanks!

D P

Ticket 24785163

The Mac closest to me is running Sequoia 15.3.2 and Dropbox v222.4.5042

Nancy

Hey @D P, thanks for the ticket number. Out of curiosity, how much available hard drive space do you have on your Mac computer?

D P

1TB drive on this one with 385GB still available. (The entire Dropbox folder, if it were to be synced fully to that computer, is only 122 GB)

D P

I've been suffering with this bug for 3 months now, how is it still so widespread?? Most of my Macs have this.

Jay

Hi @D P, have you created a new support ticket recently with the team in order to look into this in more detail?

Do you have the ticket ID in order for me to locate it on the system?

D P

Ticket 24785163

Jay

Thanks for the ticket ID, this seems to be an older ticket from March which you mentioned earlier in this thread, have you created a new support ticket since then?

johnnyringo

same issue, but on windows 11. What is the status of this issue?

Walter

Hey there @johnnyringo - sorry to hear you're having issues with this.
Could you clarify the version and status of the Dropbox app as shown in your taskbar?

If you've attempted any troubleshooting steps as well, please let us know.

johnnyringo

Walter,

Status: Up to Date

version 228.4.5567

Megan

Hey @johnnyringo, let me also jump in here!

When did this issue first start happening?

Would you mind walking me through the steps that you follow on your end? Do you right click on files and try to select them as "available offline" or is this their current syncing state?

If you have any screenshots feel free to send them over, in order for me to have a visual too.

johnnyringo

I only noticed the issue this past week, so I'm unsure when it may have started. It's simple really, under "preferences" -> "Sync" -> "default sync preference" there are 2 options: Online Only or Available Offline. I set it to "Available offline" but every time I open up preferences, it goes back to "online-only"

I would like to sync ALL my files locally by default. It seems the option in preferences is glitched?

Megan

Hey @johnnyringo!

Can you also try updating the app to the latest stable version that came out yesterday, to see if that makes any difference?

Also, have you tried quitting the app by right-clicking the Dropbox icon in your task bar? You can then select Quit Dropbox, then reopen it from your installed applications.

Lastly, if you select your files/folders inside Dropbox and right click on them, do you have the option to make them available offline, or online-only?

Nancy

Hey @johnnyringo! Did Megan’s suggestions help with the issue you were having?

If not, let us know and we can look into this further.

Bonnie K.4

Any solution to this??

I just got a new Windows 11 laptop, when I first set up my Dropbox account I set it to have everything online only since I have several TBs of data. Then I went into setting to select which folders I want offline and on my hard drive, which is around 300gb. The problem is I want ALL NEW files uploaded to those folders to be available offline and have the green checkmark and yet even though I have that setting selected, every single new file I upload has the grey icon and is online only. This is a PITA to have to do each file individually.

It was working perfectly fine in Windows 10!

Hannah

Sorry to see that you're having an issue with this feature, @Bonnie K.4.

Would you mind sending me a screenshot of the setting for new files added to your account from the "sync" tab in your Dropbox app preferences and a screenshot of how your files appear in the Dropbox folder?

Which version of the Dropbox app are you using?

Megan

Hey @Bonnie K.4!

A quick follow-up to our last message! Let us know if you still need assistance or if everything is working as expected.

Bonnie K.4

I ended up having to make all those folders available offline, which completely filled up my hard drive, and then selected all the files within and chose the online only option to free up the space. It took awhile because as I made some online only, the rest would download to my hard drive, but eventually I was able to get them all synced and online only and am back to having 400+ GB of free space on my hard drive.

So I guess the answer is if you want to have new files appear offline, the parent folder MUST be set to offline first. If the parent folder is online only, ALL NEW files within will default to online only status, even if you have the setting checked for new files to be always available offline. Which is a really stupid way of doing things and sucks for setting up new computers, but there seems to be no way around it.

Megan

Hey there, @Bonnie K.4!

Thanks for the added info, and happy to see that your issue is now resolved!

If you need something else, please let me know and I will be more than happy to help every step of the way. 😇