topic Re: Problems with icon thumbnails in dropbox in Inventor Forum

Problems with icon thumbnails in dropbox

ferreirahomeoffice — Mon, 17 Mar 2025 18:29:06 GMT

Hello, greetings to everyone on the forum,
I'm encountering a very annoying problem, which I don't know if it has direct links with Iventor, but the fact is that the thumbnails of the .iam, .ipt and .idw files are not displayed when their directory is inside Dropbox, however when files are outside they are displayed normally, I've already checked and the files are not allocated in the cloud, by the green verified icon on each file in Dropbox it appears that it is offline, and even so it is not displayed, what could this be guys?

Re: Problems with icon thumbnails in dropbox

johnsonshiue — Tue, 18 Mar 2025 00:13:41 GMT

Hi! This could be a Dropbox specific issue. Please take a look at the following article to see if some of the change may help your case.

https://www.autodesk.com/support/technical/article/caas/sfdcarticles/sfdcarticles/File-thumbnails-do-not-appear-in-the-Inventor-Open-Dialogue-box.html

Many thanks!

Re: Problems with icon thumbnails in dropbox

claudio.gardosi — Wed, 09 Jul 2025 13:02:59 GMT

Hi everyone, I’m having the exact same issue with thumbnails for .iam, .ipt, and .idw files not showing inside Dropbox folders, even though the files are marked as “Available offline.” When I move the files outside Dropbox, the thumbnails appear just fine.

It definitely seems related to how Dropbox handles synced files. Has anyone found a reliable fix or workaround for this yet?

Thanks in advance!

Re: Problems with icon thumbnails in dropbox

OlleBlink — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 13:22:26 GMT

I also got the missing thumbnail problem after updating Inventor from 2025 to 2026.

I did reinstall Dropbox as proposed in this thread https://forums.autodesk.com/t5/inventor-forum/thumbnails-missing-in-file-explorer-and-all-explorer-windows-in/m-p/13672499#M395887 but still missing thumbnails. I did not delete files from my computer Dropbox folder, only reinstalled Dbox.

I was able to fix the problem partly by copy files from Dropbox folder (off-line files) to a folder I created on desktop. Thumbnails and preview showed up in this folder.

After this I moved files back to Dropbox folder replacing files. After this thumbnails and preview is working.

!! This fixed the problem in windows explorer, but it did not fix the problem in Inventor Open or Save as - explorer !!

//Olle

Re: Problems with icon thumbnails in dropbox

Desam — Mon, 04 Aug 2025 22:40:50 GMT

I think this has been caused by the last dropbox app update and is not resolvable without an update to the dropbox app - perhaps autodesk can assist them to include native inventor file thumbnail handling for online only files also?

Re: Problems with icon thumbnails in dropbox

kevingroah — Mon, 27 Oct 2025 13:29:32 GMT

I am having the same issue, but in addition to that, I have a personal dropbox folder that the thumbs work fine, but the business dropbox folder, they will not work.

Re: Problems with icon thumbnails in dropbox

kevingroah — Mon, 10 Nov 2025 15:07:02 GMT

I have been trying with no success to get my thumbnails back. Dropbox ran me through "unlinking" my personal dropbox account with my business account, and WOAH!, do not do this.

Took me two days solid, because when you do this, dropbox re-syncs EVERYTHING! Then my personal files wouldn't show up at all. Re-linked, then dropbox created a whole new folder with all the files in it. Now I had two folders of all my dropbox files, in both accounts. TWO DAYS to fix...

I'm about fed up with dropbox. They are blaming Inventor.

Now I have a new issue with them. If I "quit" dropbox by the taskbar menu, the thumbnails get re created with each file I work on and save. (they even work in the "open" dialog in Inventor). I was jumping for joy when I discovered this, but was kicked down again, as soon as I started dropbox again, POOF, all the thumbnails went away again! I can duplicate by quitting dropbox, saving a file, thumb shows, then start dropbox, and poof, gone again.

Re: Problems with icon thumbnails in dropbox

chamikanTR4M5 — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 10:36:02 GMT

Did anyone find a solution for this?

Re: Problems with icon thumbnails in dropbox

Desam — Wed, 28 Jan 2026 20:39:56 GMT

no - still a problem today for me.

have shifted my active cloud to google drive and the thumbnails work there. Onedrive didnt work for me.

Re: Problems with icon thumbnails in dropbox

DonnieBixler5383 — Fri, 08 May 2026 22:10:54 GMT

This is really annoying, anyone have any luck figuring it out?

Re: Problems with icon thumbnails in dropbox

kevingroah — Fri, 08 May 2026 22:28:16 GMT

Yes, I did. See quote from dropbox support below: Be careful when you log back in, make sure you use the same folder as original. I would also make a complete backup first and store it off of your computer.

Hi Kevin,

Thank you for your reply!

Please note that to view the thumbnails Windows accesses files through the Windows Cloud Files (CFAPI) integration that Cloud providers use. Which could mean that the issue does not persist outside of the Dropbox folder because of miscommunication between File Explorer and Cloud Files. The only way to test this, is if you opt out of the Cloud Files version of the Dropbox on the device where the problem occurs.

To do so, please:

Click the Dropbox icon in your taskbar.
Click your avatar (profile picture or initials) in the bottom-left corner, then select Preferences.
Select the Accounts tab.
Click Sign out under the Accounts tab.
Dropbox will then prompt you to re-enter your account information.
Log back into the Dropbox desktop app.
Make your selections on the onboarding screens.
When the setup is finished, click Advanced settings from the final screen.
Check the Opt out checkbox under Dropbox for Windows updates.

Re: Problems with icon thumbnails in dropbox

DonnieBixler5383 — Fri, 08 May 2026 22:43:15 GMT

Great, Thank you for the response. Will give this a try!

Re: Problems with icon thumbnails in dropbox

rosie_lucas1 — Wed, 13 May 2026 17:54:30 GMT

Hello @DonnieBixler5383,

Did the information provided by @kevingroah help you and answer your question?

If yes, please click on the "Accept Solution" button. This will assist other community users in finding and benefiting from this information.

If not, please do not hesitate to give an update in this thread so all community members receive an update on the progression of your question, and can suggest next steps that may be helpful for you to achieve what you're looking for.

All the best,

Rosie| Community Manager

Re: Problems with icon thumbnails in dropbox

DonnieBixler5383 — Thu, 14 May 2026 15:18:57 GMT

Hi @rosie_lucas1,

The information provided by @kevingroah does work. I don't see an Accept Solution button, but I have confirmed it is working on my machine.

With the version of Dropbox Sync I have installed, I was unable to choose the same DropBox folder on my machine. I had to re-sync my entire DropBox contents.

Re: Problems with icon thumbnails in dropbox

rosie_lucas1 — Fri, 15 May 2026 17:41:50 GMT

@DonnieBixler5383 thank you for the follow up! Not a problem with not seeing the "Accept Solution" button I have gotten @kevingroah's comment marked as the solution.