Need to see if your shared folder is taking up space on your dropbox 👨💻? Find out how to check here.
Forum Discussion
Solved
Can I use the Dropbox desktop app on Linux without AppIndicator?
I'm using dropbox desktop on archlinux without desktop environment. I'm using a window manager directly (in specific, awesomeWM).
Recently when I start the dropbox desktop, it has a popup message saying I new version of dropbox will not work without AppIndicator, and it said my current environment doesn't support it. And I will not work after May 27.
In fact I've already installed libappindicator-gtk2 and libappindicator-gtk3.
I've two questions:
- How can I make it detect and use the installed AppIndicator?
- Can I stay with the current version of desktop desktop, even after May 27?
Hi Tung L.
Sorry to hear that you're running into this issue!
My understanding is that on the target date, Dropbox will still work "headless" (no tray icon / UI). https://help.dropbox.com/installs/system-requirements#linux-operating-system
If you want a tray icon, then you might be out of luck with "awesomeWM", which does not support appindicator: https://github.com/awesomeWM/awesome/issues/2995
If you want to continue without a tray icon, it looks like there's a hidden feature to let the user silence the notification if they first click learn more then restart the app.
15 Replies
Replies have been turned off for this discussion
- Neal
Community Manager
Hi Tung L.
Sorry to hear that you're running into this issue!
My understanding is that on the target date, Dropbox will still work "headless" (no tray icon / UI). https://help.dropbox.com/installs/system-requirements#linux-operating-system
If you want a tray icon, then you might be out of luck with "awesomeWM", which does not support appindicator: https://github.com/awesomeWM/awesome/issues/2995
If you want to continue without a tray icon, it looks like there's a hidden feature to let the user silence the notification if they first click learn more then restart the app.
Thanks for the reply. If I keep the current version of dropbox, without updating it with pacman. Will it's UI stop working since May 27 due to API changes or scheduled update on the server side?
Hi. Not sure if I should post separately, but I have a similar question using Dropbox on a Chromebook (not in developer mode). It doesn't really have a proper desktop environment. I'm also getting the warning. I'm hoping I can still use it! Thanks!
Hi Neal, thanks a lot, my machine has a similar message too: "Unsupported desktop environment ". When you wrote "...you can still use it in headless mode" it means when I´ll do any changes to any file it will keep perfectly syncing to the dropbox´s server once the date has passed (May 27, 2025)? is it right? . P.S. Sorry for my English. I´m a Spanish speaker.
I get the same error message on Fedora 42 Workstation running Wayland and a standard Gnome desktop.
- Neal
Hi NateAnderson,
Dropbox does not currently support Fedora 42 and that is why you're seeing this message. We are currently working on this issue and you can learn more from this thread.
Please follow to keep posted!
