I understand that if I mark a file as being a “Favorite”, it supposedly keeps a copy of the file on the local computer, so that I can access it even when there’s no internet connection. Then, when I am connected later on, it syncs the different versions automatically.
My problem is that it works only about half the time. The other half, my screen just turns round and round until I cancel Dropbox. Obviously, it is trying to get the file from the cloud, but it shouldn’t need to do that. It should see that there’s no internet, and give up after much less than one second. Why is it doing this? Why can’t I access my files?
What kind of computer are you using? (Operating system, etc.)
For computers, Dropbox usually just sits in the background and syncs your files in its folder without needing to have them marked as Favorites. That’s usually reserved for mobile devices (like Android). So I’m a bit confused.
Sounds to me that the files are not being stored locally, and Dropbox is trying to verify the file list.
When you call for that file it tries to locate it on the remote server.
I think you need to look at the default dropbox location, and compare it to where you think you have stored your files.
You don’t need to mark a file as favourite for it to be stored locally, assuming your storage is your pc.
If you are trying to do this on a mobile, you may have storage limitations until you change the settings - since every phone is different it is impossible to know how to change the storage that is allocated to Dropbox - you will have to go into your settings to find out.
My apologies. My desktop pc is never offline. I was talking about my Android phone, such as when I’m in a tunnel or subway. (I almost never fly, but I think that would be another situation when many would use this feature.)
That sounded like you might have hit it correctly. I have 5 GB free on the phone, but as you say, I need to check how much is allocated to Dropbox. But according to my Dropbox Settings on the phone, it says “Space used - 77.1% of 2 GB”. I figure that means I have almost 500 MB available, and the file it wouldn’t open a few days ago was only 46 KB. Still, thanks for the idea, and I’ll keep my eye on it.