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Forum Discussion
Dropbox not searchable in MacOS Ventura 13.1
Since the recent Dropbox update, I can no longer search for files in Dropbox on my Mac. I have been using Dropbox for over 10 years and have never had this problem before. It's making life extremel...
Megan
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHi ptetta, happy February 1st!
Are you referring to Spotlight? Which version of the Dropbox app you have installed to the device?
Any screenshots you want to share, that demonstrate what you mentioned, and what you see when you try to search for a file, are welcome.
Let me know more, and we'll take it from there!
I found a solution on this forum.
This solution came from davidarden. It worked for me. I can now search my Dropbox folders when I couldn't before (on MacOS 13.1)
Tutorial is here on apple's forums: https://discussions.apple.com/thread/253479408
Just giving credit where credit is due.
In case that goes away, instructions are also listed below.
- Open System Preferences and go to Spotlight's Privacy tab.
- Add the entire hard disk INTO the Privacy list.
- Maybe wait 30s.
- Remove the hard disk FROM the Privacy list.
Spotlight will re-index. After finish re-indexing, the search in folder works for me.
(To see if Spotlight is indexing, use Command+Space to invoke Spotlight, and type in something. Wait a second. You should see a progress bar to show indexing progress)
- Jay
Hi ptetta, we appreciate your sharing of a solution that worked for you.
To everyone else in this thread, could you try these steps and let us know if the issue persists afterwards?
Hi,
I have tried the suggested solution and it seems to work.
First I tried to add then remove Dropbox from the Spotlight list, but that didn't work.
Then I added and removed HD and now it seems to work.
Thanks to all!
I have the same problem. It started after a recent update of Dropbox. There was a question if I wanted to protect my files and I accepted, because protected soundsbetter than unprotected. Then Dropbox somehow moved all files. The Dropbox icon was moved further down in the Finder menu at the same time.
Since then searches don't include files on Dropbox and that is where 99% of my files are.
I have MacOS Ventura 13.1 and Dropbox v 166.4.2920
Please help solve this!
- Megan
Hi Mona_Protea, thanks for posting here!
Could you send me a couple of screenshots demonstrating what you see on your end, when trying to search for files?
Keep me posted, and we'll take it form there.
I've had the same issue after mistakenly updating this morning. Once the update completed I was no longer able to find any dropbox file when searching using the Mac's finder search bar. This negates 95% of the advantage of using dropbox over other options for me, its integration with Apple was a big plus. An additional irony is that this update was to be more compatible with Apple! I am running MacOS Ventura 13.1. I had intended to attach a screen shot of the "results" of a search when I copied and pasted part of a file name into the search bar but I don't see an easy way to do this.
Any help will be appreciated and is urgently needed.
Cheers,
Dave in SD
I just tried dragging and dropping my screenshot files. Hopefully, they are readable on your end.
Actually I'm on Ventura 13.2 with an M1 iMac, and have updated to have Dropbox under Library/CloudStorage with all files and folders available offline.
Finder search cannot find dropbox files when using Dropbox as the search start. If I search "This Mac" they are all found. Spotlight search finds them all as well. I disconnected my computer from Dropbox, erased the folder and other associated files in Library, and then reconnected and downloaded everything. This did not help.
- Jay
Hi everyone, are you experiencing the same behavior as listed in this article when searching on the new Mac OS version of the Dropbox desktop application?
Jay Your article said: "Searching through Finder will only find online-only files or folders that have been previously accessed on your device running Dropbox for macOS."
Not for me: Searching through finder will find a file I have previously opened in "This Mac", but NOT in Dropbox folder searchs.
Hi,
Please give a solution ASAP to this problem that is very bothersome.
Hi David:
Thanks for your post. The solution "kind of" works.
It works in that the folder is now searchable using Finder's search window (and Spotlight too),BUT
I cannot seem to limit the search to ONLY DropBox (the "Search: This Mac" is selected and "DropBox" cannot be selected in the search bar in the Finder Window when attempting to do a multi-criteria search.) Hence it does not seem possible to filter the search by locations within DropBox - which is quite critical for me.
The only way I can search *only* within DropBox is to use the DropBox app (in the menubar), but that method does not allow for a multi-criteria search like one can do from within the Finder window.
Have you encountered this issue, or did the process you outline fix that problem for you completely (i.e. you did not encounter the problem that I did.)Hi,
I have used Dropbox on Mac for many years.
I tag many of my files in Finder for easy search and can search within specific folders for files that contain the tag.
However, since the latest Dropbox update where it moved all the Files to the "Locations" sidebar in Finder, this search functionality within the Dropbox folders no longer works. If I search "This Mac" I can find the tagged folders but if I want to search a specific folder that is in Dropbox it won't work.
Would appreciate any tips or tricks to resolve this, thanks!
In my case, my system does not see DropBox files at all. Finder does not see DropBox. I have to open the Dropbox folder directly from the top bar icon, and when I tried to save a quick link in the sidebar of Finder, the files inside were not viewable from that quick link.
