Hi, i have dropbox installed and have noticed i have recently started seeing Windows 10 Protected Folder Access Blocked alerts for Dropbox.exe tryign to access the Music and Documnets folders in my profile even though i have not setup these fodlers for synicng and do not have the Backups feature enabled? Could someone advise why dropbox is trying to access these folders and how to stop? Thanks

I am having this issue too, with all of our managed Windows devices. We have backups disabled in Dropbox, and Folder Protection enabled in Microsoft Endpoint Manager. Users constantly receive protected folder access blocked notifications. Dropbox is attempting to access %userprofile%\Music repeatedly. Microsoft Endpoint Manager | Folder Protection EnabledMicrosoft Endpoint Manager Windows Defender Log | Dropbox Blocked ExampleWindows Defender Protected Folder Error Dropbox | Backups DisabledDropbox Admin Center - Backup Disabled

Hi Walter, Yes i did check this before reaching out to the community. I had this issue before even knowing about the feature. Doign my research i found an article where someone said you might have this enabled check. On checking i enabled it as its not a very intuative interface. I then followed the article to disable. I still get the warnings regarless. Just to also mention i am in I.T for over 20 years so if there is any other higher level troubleshooting i can do please advise. Thanks again

Go to windows security, Virus protection and then Protection History.I get the message that my administrator (LOL) has blocked this action:App or process blocked: Dropbox.exeProtected folder: %userprofile%\DocumentsBlocked by: Controlled folder access You can access the Controlled Folder settings from Protection History (the main settings are in Ransomware protection) then and add dropbox which will stop the notification but I don't think it answers your original question - why would dropbox be poking around in Documents if that is not a folder in your dropbox.

Hi Walter, Yes you can reach out via as i woud like this resolved as soon as possible please.

Hi stlouey, I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with this! Did you have the computer backup enabled previously on your computer, for the Music and Documents folders? If so, can you let me know if you followed the steps at the bottom of this article to disable the backup? Let me know and we'll go from there!

Windows 10 Protected Folder Access | The Dropbox Community

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brendanr
Explorer | Level 4
4 years ago
I am having this issue too, with all of our managed Windows devices. We have backups disabled in Dropbox, and Folder Protection enabled in Microsoft Endpoint Manager. Users constantly receive protected folder access blocked notifications. Dropbox is attempting to access %userprofile%\Music repeatedly.

Microsoft Endpoint Manager | Folder Protection Enabled
Microsoft Endpoint Manager

Windows Defender Log | Dropbox Blocked Example
Windows Defender Protected Folder Error

Dropbox | Backups Disabled
Dropbox Admin Center - Backup Disabled
Walter
Dropbox Community Moderator
4 years ago
Hey brendanr, sorry for the late response.

If you're still having issues with this, may we reach out via email to investigate further?
brankogrbac
Helpful | Level 6
3 years ago
What is the status of this ticket? When can we expect it to be resolved?

My protection history is filled with these messages of Dropbox attempting to access %userprofile%\Music but backup is not enabled on any of the folders.

It may be useful to note that this usually happens when I create a screenshot in Windows with Win + Shift + S. it happened twice while I was making the photos for this report. How is this even related?
Nancy
Dropbox Community Moderator
3 years ago
brankogrbac, are you, by any chance, saving your screenshots automatically to Dropbox?

If you're not sure, you can also take a look here.
brankogrbac
Helpful | Level 6
3 years ago
No, I am not saving my screenshots automatically to Dropbox.
Nancy
Dropbox Community Moderator
3 years ago
Let's check something else then; can you please visit this page, and let me know if you see any active backups there?
brankogrbac
Helpful | Level 6
3 years ago
Zero backups listed. I have the option to setup backup.
Walter
Dropbox Community Moderator
3 years ago
Hey brankogrbac, sorry to jump in and thanks for your patience while we checked on this internally with the team.

So, this is expected to some extent as the desktop app itself integrates with your computer's file-system to give you Dropbox tools (right click options), even outside your Dropbox folder on Windows, but unless you take specific steps to configure them for sync, only the content in your Dropbox folder is syncing up or down.

In general we'd recommend whitelisting the Dropbox.exe application itself in your anti-virus/security software to avoid these kinds of issues, as well as potential interruptions to sync.

Let me know if this helps.