All Dropbox Finder sync icons disappeared after updating to macOS Tahoe 26.2.

Thanks for sharing this Med54. Do you happen to know roughly when your Dropbox app updated (was it in the last few days)? I’m wondering if this is tied more to a recent Dropbox update rather than the OS itself. In my case my Mac updated to Tahoe but it's possible Dropbox also updated in the background and I just didn’t notice it. With it also happening on Sonoma makes it sound like the Dropbox update timing could be the common factor.

I’m having the same issue that consettprint is describing, except that this issue started after the latest Dropbox update. I’ve been running Tahoe 26.2 since it was released in mid-December 2025 and all the online/offline status icons have been appearing normally until just recently when the new look of the Dropbox menu dropdown changed. I tried the usual restarts, etc. and nothing changed. Then I used the Maintenance app from Titanium software to clean system files, caches, etc. After that restart everything with the status icons was normal again, but now they’ve disappeared again. I also can see all the contextual menu items available. My wife’s MacBook Air running macOS Sonoma 15.6 and Dropbox 240.4.8609 has also lost the green check status, so the issue is not just specific to macOS Tahoe.

Hi, Megan thanks for coming back to us.

I’ve checked everything you mentioned and can confirm the following

• Sync status when hovering over the Dropbox menu bar icon it shows 'Up to date' so the app itself is running and syncing normally.

• Dropbox context menu when I right click files and folders inside my Dropbox folder I do see all the usual Dropbox options (View on Dropbox.com, Make available offline, Manage folder access, File info etc.). I’ve attached screenshots showing this. The issue is specifically that no Finder overlay icons are appearing at all (no green ticks, blue arrows or cloud icons) which I need for my day to day work.

• Folder location my Dropbox folder is in the default local location under /Users/katie/Dropbox and is not on an external hard drive.

Regarding File Provider under Preferences > Sync > Dropbox folder updates it only shows: 'You are not eligible for Dropbox on File Provider at this tim'. There is no 'Get started' option and nothing indicating I’m already on File Provider so this Mac I presume is using legacy sync. Even though I fulfil all the requirements for File Provider.

My understanding (and from previous Dropbox guidance) is that Finder sync icons should still appear when using legacy sync. The icons were definitely present and working correctly before my Mac upgraded to macOS Tahoe 26.2 and they disappeared immediately after the OS update. No other changes were made to my setup. Given that the app is syncing and up to date, the Dropbox folder is local, Dropbox context menu options are present and another user (AlexSC) is seeing the same issue on multiple Macs with the same OS/app versions this seems related to the macOS Tahoe update rather than a permissions, reinstall or external drive issue.

I've put the screenshots below.

Thank you again for your help!

Hey consettprint & AlexSC!

In regards to your syncing icons, I would like to gather a few more pieces of info and get closer into what happened.

Can you check what is the sync status of the application as we speak? You can see that, if you hover your mouse over the Dropbox icon in your menu bar.

Also, feel free to send me a screenshot as to how the files and folders look inside your Dropbox folder, so I can have visual too. Could you try right clicking a file or folder to see if get any of the Dropbox options there? 

Lastly, when it comes to the File Provider update, please check here and make sure you fulfill the requirements. One more thing that our Community Manager didn't mention in her post is that you need to make sure that the Dropbox folder is not located in an external hard drive in order to proceed with the update.

Looking forward to your reply!

Hi Nancy, thanks for getting back to me.

Yes I’ve already followed all of those steps including fully quitting Dropbox via Activity Monitor, restarting the app from Applications, force quitting and relaunching Finder and checking permissions. I’ve also tried an advanced reinstall and every other troubleshooting step suggested across the forums but none of it has made any difference.

This issue only started immediately after my Mac upgraded to macOS Tahoe 26.2. The Finder sync/status icons were working perfectly before the OS update and disappeared as soon as the upgrade completed. Nothing else about my setup changed. I’m currently on Dropbox desktop app version 240.4.8609 and under Preferences > Sync > Dropbox folder updates it shows only “You are not eligible for Dropbox on File Provider at this time” (no get started option and nothing indicating I’m already on File Provider).

Since the macOS update Finder shows no Dropbox overlay icons at all on any files or folders. Given that this began directly after the macOS Tahoe update and that I’m using legacy sync (File Provider unavailable), I’m trying to understand whether this is now expected behaviour on newer macOS versions rather than a permissions or reinstall issue as all standard troubleshooting steps have already been exhausted.

Also having the same issue on two Mac's running same versions of the OS and DB app.

I followed the above steps with no success, not keen on reinstalling on the two devices given time implications. Is there something more amiss given multiple reports? 

Hi consettprint​, and thanks for joining our forum. 

When saying that you checked the Dropbox app’s permissions, did you follow these steps perhaps?

-Click on the Dropbox icon from your Desktop and quit the application
-Open your Activity Monitor from your Mac Utilities folder
-Force quit out of the instances of the Dropbox application that are running by searching for "Dropbox" in the search bar, then clicking on the "x" force quit icon on the top left
-Re-start Dropbox from the applications folder by double clicking on the Dropbox application
-Click on the Apple icon in the top left of your screen
-Click on "force quit"
-Relaunch the Finder

If yes and that didn’t make a difference, I’d like you to perform an advanced reinstall next. 

Let me know how it goes.