Dropbox is expanding the rollout of full support for macOS 12.5 and higher. This update fixes issues related to opening online-only files in third-party applications for users on macOS 12.5 and higher.
When you’re eligible, you’ll receive a notification from the Dropbox icon in your menu bar. As a workaround, users on these versions of macOS can open online-only files directly in Finder.
How to open files when they’re online-only
Note: Online-only files on macOS 12.3 and higher will show as zero bytes in size.
To open online-only files:
Note: Online-only files have a cloud icon next to them.
- Open your Dropbox folder in Finder.
- Double-click the file you’d like to open.
- The file will be downloaded within your Dropbox folder and will open in its default app.
To make an online-only file available to open in third-party applications:
- Open your Dropbox folder in Finder.
- Right-click the file you want to make available.
- Click Make available offline.
- The file will be downloaded within your Dropbox folder.
Note: Once the online-only file has been downloaded, the file icon will change to a green checkmark.
The downloaded file can then be opened through any third-party application.