Existing project won't open on my Mac

Scrivener Scrivener for macOS
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Hi, I last edited my project on my MacBook 2 days ago and all was fine. I tried to open it today and nothing happens when I choose File/Open/[project] or File/Recent Projects/[project]. I was able to open it on my iPhone but my most recent content is gone when I look at it there. I backup to Dropbox. I don’t know what happened. Why can’t I open the project in Scrivener on my Mac? And why is my recent content gone when I open it on my phone? TIA

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I guess I should say I’m running Scrivener 3.3.6 on Mac OS Ventura 13.2.1 and Scrivener version 1.2.4 on iOS 17.2.1

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Did you backup or sync your project to Dropbox. These are two findamentally different things. (Scrivener for iOS syncs via Dropbox but does not backup.)

Have you mistakenly made your iOS project local to the device?

Also have you turned off Dropbox’s Make Online-Only default as this royaly screws Scrivener for macOS. The “goneness” you mention is symptomatic of Dropbox getting in the way.

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Thanks. I backup to Dropbox. I have a folder of Backups there that contains zipped files of my Scrivener project.

I don’t think I made the iOS project local to the device. I actually rarely use Scrivener on my phone, just thought to check it yesterday when the trouble started on my Mac.

And now, miraculously, my project opens in Scrivener on my Mac and the most recent content is there! I’m afraid to open it on my phone though.

How can I check to see whether or not I turned off Dropbox’s Make Online-Only default? Should I turn off that default? I can’t tell if you’re saying the default screws with Scrivener for Mac OS or if turning off the default screws with Scrivener for Mac OS.

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Yes, when keeping Scrivener project files in a folder synced with Dropbox (or any sync engine), keep the files “offline”.

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Thank you both! I think I’m all set now. (My Dropbox files were set to online-only so I changed that.)