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Andrew-RFLB's avatar
Andrew-RFLB
Helpful | Level 5
8 years ago

Smart Sync and Quick Preview on Mac

Smart Sync causes my quick preview function (spacebar) to not function properly on my Mac. I can't preview thumbnails, or quick preview any videos or photos. Any ideas why this happens?
Desktop
Mac
Setting up the apps
  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    8 years ago

    Likely because you're trying to preview a file that doesn't exist on your computer.

     

    When you set a file to Online Only, the only thing that's left of that file on your computer is the necessary information to make it appear in the folder. Since there's no content in the file, your OS (nor any other program) is able to preview it.

     

    Remember, when you set a file to Online Only, the file is removed from the computer leaving behind only a marker file. In order to access that file, whether it be to open and edit it or simply preview it, the file needs to be on the computer (Smart Sync doesn't allow you to open files directly from the Dropbox servers). When you open a file, it's synced back to your local drive and then opened as normal. When you're done with the file, if you want it to be online-only again, you need to mark it as such.

Andrew-RFLB's avatar
Andrew-RFLB
Helpful | Level 5

No, unfortunately it turns off Quick Preview (or Quicklook) for all of my files, even local, until I restart my Mac. And if I happen to try to preview an online-only file, it causes it to malfunction again. I can basically just avoid hitting spacebar with online-only files, but it is annoying if I want to use it to see those files' sizes.

GuillemS's avatar
GuillemS
Helpful | Level 5
6 years ago

The same happens to me. It's very difficult to work like this, and Smart Sync loses a great part of its sense :-(

  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    6 years ago
    Hey there (GuillemS), thanks for taking the time to reach out on the Dropbox Community with this feedback. Following your comment here, I ran a search on my end on our system & I’ve located your open support interaction with my colleague. I’ve included a note of your comments here on your ongoing correspondence, so as to have all relevant info on the same email chain; rest assured that you’re in safe hands Guillem.
     
    I hope that this gets resolved soon for you however I remain at your entire disposal should you have any follow-up inquiries. Thanks again for your cooperation & for all the time you’re devoting to discuss this with our team! 
    • GuillemS's avatar
      GuillemS
      Helpful | Level 5
      6 years ago

      Thank you, Jane.

      Smart Sync would be useful if it worked properly.

      However, while this issue remains unsolved, I would like to downgrade to Dropbox Plus, as I said to your colleague.

      • Jane's avatar
        Jane
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        6 years ago
        It would be worth noting that you’ll need to follow some advanced troubleshooting steps Guillem (GuillemS), so my colleague will submit your inquiry to a team specialist after a certain point (where you’ll be able to ask on the current progress). 
         
        From there, as we can only look into payment-specific inquiries through our Official Support channel Guillem (i.e. we’ll need sensitive details that can’t be accessed on our Forum), I’ve made my colleague aware of your latest comments, so it would best for you to proceed with that from this channel. Thanks again for bearing with us!

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