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Forum Discussion
Unable to open files synced to computer
Hi -
I've been using dropbox for a few months now and it has been aweseome -
I've got a distributed team of 10 people working across the country - and we've been sharing files on Dropbox witho...
Hello,
I actually have same problem as Clangdon described (https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Files-folders/Unable-to-open-files-synced-to-computer/m-p/277271#M112893). I tried quitting Dropbox, it does not help. When I download files from Dropbox - then I can open them and they look just fine. The problem is with those that are syncornized. I can not Preview any of them, those that I worked on 4 days ago are working after opening them, but older ones ar enot. It looks like synchronizing is damaging files? This is the message window I get:
Also while downloading some of them get "_." in the middle of name file, so I need to manually change them after.
- Walter
Dropbox Staff
Hello kajakiem - welcome to the Dropbox Community!
As you can see, I moved your post under the thread you had quoted in your second post; merely to keep things neat around our Community.
As per the matter at hand now, kindly note that the issue you're seeing is a Mac issue that occurs when copying files with extended attributes metadata into a file system that doesn't support them. Depending on the information stored in the metadata, you may or may not need these files.
These files are called AppleDouble files and more information on how to handle them can be found by searching for: "apple double files"
To avoid this issue if you have your Dropbox folder on an external drive, we usually recommend ensuring that the drive is formatted in the default file system format for the Operating System that is installed.
Formatting drives may cause data to be deleted. Please consult resources from your Operating System's manufacturer for steps and recommendations on formatting drives to a different file system. The most common default file systems are NTFS (Windows), HFS (Mac OS X) or ext4 (Linux).
I hope this information helps you find the culprit and please keep us posted on your progress!
Hello, I still have same problem, I can not open files that are syncronized. When I download them they are fine, I can open them.
AI files are having problems with Text Import.
PDF files are just not to open.
Indd files can not open.
etc...
- Walter
Sorry to hear this persists kajakiem. Let's have a look now!
Could you let me know if those files are synced locally to your device or if they happen to be set to 'Online Only' via your desktop app's Smart Sync settings? You can verify this by checking your files' syncing status icons if needed.
Also, is your desktop app showing 'Up to date' when performing those actions?
Let me know what you find and we'll take it from there.
