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Forum Discussion
Rick A.5
27 days agoHelpful | Level 6
Turn off line numbering when viewing text files
Is there a way to disable the entirely unnecessary and unhelpful line numbering when viewing text files? I don't need it and I don't want it. Why on earth was that added?
I love Dropbox but they really need to stop springing surprise features on customers and allow us to opt-in. Some of the interface changes lately have been a huge nuissance and I've had to waste a bunch of time figuring out how to roll them back or disable them.
- harrydbxDropbox Engineer
Hi Rick A.5,
I'm an engineer that works on file previews. Thanks for the feedback. I added a "hide line numbers" option in the View menu on text previews. Your preference will be saved, so you should only need to click that once if you want the line numbers gone for good on that browser.
Best,
Harry- MarkAdcockNew member | Level 1
Hello harrydbx,
Super helpful, thank you! Is there a way to enable this feature when the file is not being viewed by an active DB user? I have a plain text file that I use to convey emergency contact information. If I view my file Incognito, the line numbers initially appear and I can turn them off, but as-expected, accessing again Incognito produces the same result.
Best,Mark
- harrydbxDropbox Engineer
Hi Mark,
The preference is saved in the browser's storage. Incognito windows only keep their storage for as long as the window is open, so the browser will forget you selected that option once you close the Incognito window. However, if you sent the file to someone else, they could select View > Hide line numbers, and that preference would be saved in their browser for when they view text previews in the future (as long as they weren't also using an Incognito window).
- WalterDropbox Staff
Hi there Rick A.5 - thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts on this with us.
Just to make sure that we're on the same page, can you please send us a screenshot so that we can have a visual too?
Also, did you notice this on the website or the Dropbox mobile app perhaps? Is it affecting a particular type of file or all files that preview as text?
Let us know more and we'll take it from there, Rick.
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