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Forum Discussion

mcganty's avatar
mcganty
New member | Level 2
8 years ago

How many years until Dropbox will fix offline files being unaccessible

I see via Google that many people continue to share having this problem. When I update my offline files, they're usable for about 24 hours and then they are no longer accessible. So for example, if y...
Mobile
  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    8 years ago

    Hey PeeDub, sorry to hear that you're feeling this way. 

     

    In order to proceed to resolution on this matter, I'd have to advise you to update your iPhone's operating system to the latest available version (11.0.3). Moreover, can you make sure that you've installed the latest Dropbox mobile app (70.2)? This way, you'll make sure to get all fixes that have been implemented on the latest updates.

     

    I hope this is helpful to you & you get the issue you've experienced with your Offline files fixed. Keep me updated on the progress here & I'll do my best to follow-up! 

     

Daniel S.77's avatar
Daniel S.77
New member | Level 2

In the Android app (latest version), I open the offline files screen. Dropbox says "All files are up to date".

I go offline and try to open the files. I receive the error "Can't connect to Dropbox. Make sure you're online" when opening images or "Couldn't load file. Check your internet connection" when opening PDF files.

I go online and click on "Update All". Dropbox says "Syncing..." for a while and then "All files are up to date". When I go offline the problem is still not solved.

Anthony F.13's avatar
Anthony F.13
New member | Level 2
9 years ago

I have te same issue, but I'm an iOS user (9.3.5) and updated yesterday, just before loading the files and setting them to "offline files". I had this in the past, but can't remember how I managed to fix it.

  • Danilo O.1's avatar
    Danilo O.1
    Explorer | Level 4
    9 years ago
    Many thanks for your feedback. I have found two workarounds: The first is to put the device in airplane mode (offline), sometimes works and the other is to navigate with an external file browser to Android/data/com.dropbox.android/files where you can find a folder named scratch or a folder with a strange name that contains a folder named scratch. here you will find all the offline files and others... (that paths works on Android devices, ça va sans dire)
    • SteveFT's avatar
      SteveFT
      New member | Level 2
      8 years ago

      Yep. Above works, but one would wonder why it is so easy to get into the scratch folder....so much for securing your files Dropbox - anyone who steals your phone can access this folder and the offline files - poor design.

      • SPPD's avatar
        SPPD
        New member | Level 2
        8 years ago

        I have been experiencing this same problem for quite a while now. Has anyone figured out why offline files cannot be accessed by Dropbox when the Android device is offline? Accessing the files via a file manager works, but it is very inconvenient.

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