I selected the option to make files online only. I installed the Dropbox desktop app on my laptop.Hi Dropbox badge doesn't work when I try it - and worse still, it requires me to use the Dropbox desktop app rather than my browser - which makes version control even more problematic than when using the desktop browser, as explained below. It works great if I open it on a laptop or desktop before opening it on a mobile but doesn't work properly the other way round.

any way of opening shared files on a laptop or desktop in such a way that if someone else already has the file open for editing, it won't let me open it for editing but will open it read-only instead and will warn me that someone else already has the file open? The first person to open it should always be able to save their changes to dropbox. If I open it on a mobile and then someone else opens it on a laptop, the second person to open it should not be able to edit it and they should get a warning that it's read-only. It lets me discard the changes, or save a copy of the file, but that's awful - I shouldn't have to do either if I was the first person to open the file. The next time I open the file on the phone, it says there was a problem uploading the file. Worse still, it doesn't open read-only on my laptop - if I make any changes to the file on my laptop it lets me save the file!Īnd if I then try to make some different changes to the file on my phone, then when I close the file on the phone, it gives the impression that it has saved those changes - but it doesn't actually save them to Dropbox. I get a warning message at the top of the Excel screen on my phone that it is readonly because someone else has it open for editing - which is great, and what I had hoped for.īut if I open it for editing on my phone first and then open it on my laptop, I don't get any warning on my laptop that another user has it open.

and then while it still is open on my laptop, I also try to open for editing on my phone by opening the Dropbox app on my phone and then opening the file in Exel from there, If I open it on my Windows laptop, by going to and selecting Open in + Excel for Web

I have an Excel file in a shared dropbox folder and I'm trying to simulate two people unknowingly opening the file for editing at the same time, in order to to see how or whether Dropbox prevents version conflicts - and the results are worrying.

Dropbox for business version control