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Forum Discussion
Can't open PDF files with new beta on my mac
Issue is that the file info says open with Dropbox, not Adobe. If I change back to Adobe then it opens. (Or if I open it from inside Adobe.) But I have hundreds of PDFs that now have the wrong app to open them. Wouldn't be a problem if they opened using Dropbox, but they don't. I can change open with info on each file, but that would be a huge pain. I checked the box to say change open with info for similar files, but it didn't have any impact.
Hi everyone,
Thanks for reporting this, and sorry for the inconvenience. We think we have a good idea of what is causing the issue, and we're looking into a fix.
In the meantime, the following workaround might help:- Open a Terminal window.
- Run the following command:
xattr -drv com.apple.LaunchServices.OpenWith ~/Library/CloudStorage/DropboxThis command will remove the custom "Open With" settings for all files in your Dropbox folder, including the incorrect/broken setting that is forcing some files to open with Dropbox.
It's possible that Finder won't notice the change right away, so you might need to relaunch it for that to take effect:
- Hold Control + Option and click on the Finder icon in the Dock.
- Select "Relaunch".
I've switched to beta,
it was all seamless at the beginning ...
- Started the onboarding session
- Got the information needed with the carousel walkthrough
- Moved my files from Mac HD to a "secured location"
- all files are synced online
thats all great, but when making certain files available offline and it does get the "Green checkmark" not a single file opens
with its default app, e.g. PDFs are not launching with Adobe Acrobat, PDSs are not launching with Photoshop, JPGs and PNGs are not launching with Mac native app "Preview"
Initially it was asking me to verify each file I open to "Open anyway" since I get the message "Unauthorized app" / Third party app which I solved
but now — clicking on files won't launch their desired app unless I right click on every file and choose the app, since all have open with "Dropbox" by default.
welp
I am also facing exact same problem, after a update from dropbox before 2 days, all of a sudden all the word, excel, pdf, etc files opens by default on dropbox.com
Even after changing a default app to EXCEL for .xls or .xlxs files ( for all .xls and .xlxs files) it just opens that particual .xls file in excel app and all other .xls files on dropbox.com, even though default app to open .xls file has been set to open with EXCEL app.
Same is the case with work, jpeg, pdf files evey file open on www.dropbox.com and for every file the default file to open is DROPBOX
This is a variation of the issue I have that I explained to Hannah from DB in details weeks ago. Only difference for me is that with Adobe files they don't open at all.
Like yourself even after changing a default app to EXCEL for .xls or .xlxs files ( for all .xls and .xlxs files) it just opens that particular .xls file in the excel app and all other .xls files on dropbox.com, even though default app to open .xls file has been set to open with EXCEL app.
Thankfully I only joined the Beta on my backup machine or I'd be going crazy by now.
Does anyone have an issue when opening a PDF from the desktop APP, or Finder and the Dropbox Icon not showing up on PDF's?
Yes, I'm having the exact same problem. But not on my laptop (MacBook Pro running macOS Monterey), only on my desktop (iMac running macOS Ventura). So it must be something Ventura is not recognizing. I've done some digging around but just can't figure it out.
- Walter
Dropbox Staff
Hey CarissaESLT, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.
Could you send us a screenshot of what you see on your end so that we can have a look too?
Also, is the desktop app up to date in your menu bar or is it still syncing?
Have you rebooted your computer since you first noticed this?
Keep us posted!
Hi Walter,
I'm having the same problem. Here are my screenshots. As you can see, PDF icon shows up on my laptop (macOS Monterey) but not on my desktop (macOS Ventura).
I'm using the beta version of Dropbox. "Upgraded" on Monday. Some files work just fine. The fules that don't work fine were downloaded from a zip file. They were working on old version of Dropbox.
Ever since I downloaded the new Mac Dropbox app that was pushed out a few days ago, I'm unable to open most jpgs and pdfs from by Dropbox folder located on my desktop or from a Finder window. The file icon does that little expansion thingy as if it's opening, but the document really doesn't open. When I right click a pdf and tell it to open with Acrobat or even Preview, it says the file can't be opened because it's from an unidentified developer. I then have to right click it again and override that. If I go into my security settings, I can override that one file that wouldn't previously open. That's great and all, but I simply can't do this for thousands of files. That's unreasonable. Why can't I just double click on the file and open it like I could do before? THese are files that I've had for months or even years. Nothing has changed with them.
I'm on a 16" 2017 MacBook Pro running Mac OS Ventura 13.0.1
Thanks!
- Megan
Hi b4798, I'd be more than happy to help!
When you say you have to right click on the file, and override that, what do you mean? Are these files online-only, and you change them to available offline?
Any screenshots are more than welcome here, in order for me to understand the process you follow.
Thanks a bunch!
Thanks for the reply, Megan. I mean that when I double click a pdf or jpg to normally open it from the Dropbox folder in a Mac finder window, the icon quickly expands as if the document is going to open a second later, but it never does. From that finder window, I must right click on the icon to open up another menu and tell it to open with Adobe Acrobat in order to get it to open. A simple double click that's worked for decades no longer gets the file open.
I'm trying to replicate the dialog box that that tells me that it won't open because the file is from an unidentified developer, but it won't show me that right now.
I've identified something else that's happening which I think is the root problem. When I right click a pdf and select "Get Info," the application that shows to be the one that's trying to open the pdf is Dropbox, not Adobe Acrobat. The same happens when I try and open a Word document stored on Dropbox. When I click the Dropbox selection, other apps appear that I can choose to be the default app to use for pdfs. Acrobat is listed and it surprisingly says, "default" next to it.... yet when I look at the Get Info box, "Dropbox" is already populated as the app it wants to use to open the file. Then, when I change it to open all files like that (meaning all files with the extension ".pdf"), it doesn't do that. I have to go into each individual file, open its Get Info menu, and tell it to use Acrobat to open it if it's a pdf or Preview to open it if it's a jpg.
The bottom line is that Dropbox really, really wants to be the app to open all my files even though Preview is the default jpg viewer and Acrobat is the default pdf viewer. That's despite the fact that I'm setting my preferences to make other apps the default to open those files.
I reported this same issue on a different thread. This is exactly what's happening to me.
- Good luck
I can change files on a file-by-file basis. This wasn't a problem until I ungraded to beta version of Dropbox. Not sure what you mean by changing computer's (mac) settings.
I'm having the exact same issue with my new laptop.
