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All Dropbox Finder sync icons disappeared after updating to macOS Tahoe 26.2.
After updating my Mac to macOS Tahoe 26.2 all Dropbox Finder sync and status icons disappeared completely. I no longer see any green ticks blue syncing arrows or cloud icons on files or folders inside my Dropbox folder. This worked perfectly before the macOS update and is a critical part of my workflow as I work with multiple people and rely on those visual indicators to confirm whether I created the files or someone else updated them. I am running Dropbox desktop app version 240.4.8609. In Preferences greater than Sync greater than Dropbox folder updates it shows only the message You are not eligible for Dropbox on File Provider at this time. There is no Get started option and nothing indicating I am already on File Provider. Since the macOS update Finder shows no Dropbox sync overlays at all on any files or folders and reinstalling or updating Dropbox and checking permissions has not restored them. Has anyone else experienced all Dropbox Finder badges disappearing immediately after a macOS update and is it now expected behaviour on newer macOS versions for legacy Dropbox sync to show no Finder overlay icons at all or is there any supported workaround to restore per file sync visibility for large Dropbox accounts that cannot use File Provider yet.
Just wanted to update everyone because this has fixed it for me after days of trying everything else.
This turns out to be a conflict with the Adobe Creative Cloud File Provider extension not macOS itself and not Dropbox legacy vs File Provider. What worked for me (found by Juhn huge credit to them):
- Open System Settings
- Go to General
- Open Login Items & Extensions
- Scroll down to Extensions
- Click By App
- Find Creative Cloud
- Turn OFF “File Provider” for Creative Cloud
The moment I turned this off all Dropbox Finder sync icons came back immediately (green ticks, blue syncing arrows, cloud icons, folder badges...everything).
I’ve added screenshots below to show exactly where this is.
Important note I use Creative Cloud heavily for my work so I haven’t yet tested what long term impact this has on Adobe syncing. For me this is a temporary workaround but it immediately restores Dropbox’s per file sync visibility which is critical when working with multiple people and hundreds of files a day. Hopefully Dropbox and Adobe can resolve this conflict properly but for now this is the only fix that’s worked for me. Massive thanks again to Juhn for spotting this!
38 Replies
I guess it is only relevant for those using creative cloud for file storage and sharing. Mainly, enterprise licenses, I assume. Don't believe, they use both: Adobe and Dropbox at the same time...
But that's just a speculation... 😅
Thanks mate. I have a zoom with my client tomorrow so will report back if your suggestions fix the issue.
It seems like this might be a File Provider conflict more generally rather than Adobe specifically almost like when multiple apps are using File Provider at the same time, Dropbox loses its ability to show the overlay icons. It might be worth checking whether there are any other apps on your Mac using File Provider (cloud storage apps, sync tools etc) and trying toggling them off one at a time to see if anything changes. That’s the only consistent pattern I’ve been able to spot so far. I really hope you manage to get a fix oatn your side too I know how maddening it is when everything’s technically syncing but you’ve got zero visual confirmation. Fingers crossed for you 🤞.
No problem. I know for a fact that in my situation Adobe Creative Cloud isn't installed so will investigate further as it could be something else doing the same thing.
Thank you! resolved it on both macs here, was driving us up the wall so appreciate you takin the time to not only troubleshoot it but also post your workaround
Morning Lordfader thank you so much for taking the time to dig into this. I’ve checked those exact settings on my Mac and unfortunately Dropbox was already enabled under All in Background and also switched on under Extensions - File Providers so in my case that wasn’t the cause (I wish it was). I have managed to get a temporary fix working which might help others. It turns out there’s a conflict with the Adobe Creative Cloud File Provider extension. As soon as I turned that off all Dropbox Finder sync/status icons came straight back (green ticks, blue syncing arrows, cloud icons, folder badges the lot). Path for anyone who wants to try it: System Settings → General → Login Items & Extensions → Extensions → By App → Creative Cloud → turn File Provider OFF No restart needed icons reappeared instantly for me. I use Creative Cloud a lot so I can’t yet say what the long term impact is on Adobe Cloud Documents specifically but for Dropbox heavy workflows like mine this has completely restored normal behaviour for now. Thanks again for posting your findings really good to see people sharing ideas and narrowing this down together 👍. Think we need to be employed by Dropbox 😂.
Just wanted to update everyone because this has fixed it for me after days of trying everything else.
This turns out to be a conflict with the Adobe Creative Cloud File Provider extension not macOS itself and not Dropbox legacy vs File Provider. What worked for me (found by Juhn huge credit to them):
- Open System Settings
- Go to General
- Open Login Items & Extensions
- Scroll down to Extensions
- Click By App
- Find Creative Cloud
- Turn OFF “File Provider” for Creative Cloud
The moment I turned this off all Dropbox Finder sync icons came back immediately (green ticks, blue syncing arrows, cloud icons, folder badges...everything).
I’ve added screenshots below to show exactly where this is.
Important note I use Creative Cloud heavily for my work so I haven’t yet tested what long term impact this has on Adobe syncing. For me this is a temporary workaround but it immediately restores Dropbox’s per file sync visibility which is critical when working with multiple people and hundreds of files a day. Hopefully Dropbox and Adobe can resolve this conflict properly but for now this is the only fix that’s worked for me. Massive thanks again to Juhn for spotting this!
Morning All.
So after doing some digging about I might have possibly found a solution.......thats an emphasis on the possibly. As I'm not on Tahoe yet and this problem is on a clients machine that I don't have access too could one of you try this for me and see if it works???
- Got to System Settings -> General
- Under the All In Background menu make sure Dropbox it ticked (slider to the right)
- Now scroll down further to the Extensions Menu
- Find where it says File Providers and click the small "i" icon on the right
- Make Sure the Dropbox slider it on
Screen shots attached.
Let me know if this works.
Thanks so much for explaining this Putra. The fact that the icons were still showing on Tahoe up until very recently (the same as Med54) then suddenly disappeared really does point to this being a recent Dropbox desktop update rather than anything OS related. That’s reassuring in one sense but also frustrating. It’s interesting what you’ve said about File Provide and while it’s good that icons/thumbnails appear there losing the clear blue sync and green tick visual feedback when copying folders is exactly the sort of thing that makes my work harder. Having to constantly hover over the menu bar just isn’t a practical replacement. What I’m going to try next is installing a previous version of Dropbox to see if the Finder icons come back. I’ll report back here either way so everyone knows whether that’s a viable workaround or not.
