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Dropbox app on my Mac is stuck. "Reconnecting to the internet. This may take a moment".
Dropbox is saying that it is "Reconnecting to the internet. This may take a moment", but it seems stuck like this for ages.
What I've tried:
- Signed out. Signed back in
- Signed out. Restarted. Signed back in. Restarted.
- Switched it off / on again
- Checked my firewall settings (all seems good)
- Removed my dropbox cache files
- Completely removed Dropbox from my Mac (using CleanMyMac) and reinstalled it.
My ~/Dropbox folder is now empty (but all my files are still online in my account - phew)
How can I get my dropbox working again? Is there a way to debug what it's trying to do?
My system:
- Mac (Intel) Sequoia 15.5
- Dropbox 227.4.4774
- Plenty of drive space left (local and on Dropbox)
Providing an update ... support from the support team has been absolutely appalling for the most part. Not only the slow response, but providing actions for things I have already said that I've done, telling me they can see I'm on an older version of the app when I'm on the latest version (that they pointed me to), sending me links to articles that aren't the articles they're referring to.
All that said, if anyone has this problem. The only way I could seem to fix it was to:
- blast away everything to do with Dropbox from my Mac, including my files
- install a fresh copy of the Dropbox.app
- disable the File Provider as part of the installation
- wait 5 million years for my files to download and sync. Things will work, stop working, work again, half work, stop working, work again. Just leave it for like for ever
- re-enable File Provider
- pray to whatever god you believe it
15 Replies
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- Megan
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hi there, CarlJoseph let's see what we can find about this together!
You mentioned checking your device's firewall. Have you tried disabling any security software too?
Are you on a personal or company-network? Also, it might sound trivial but have you tried restarting your modem/ internet router by any chance?
Let me know more, and we'll take it from there!
Thanks for the response. No security software installed and am on a personal network. I tried restarting my modem/router but still have the same problem.
It's been sitting on this "reconnecting to the internet" state over night, so no progress.
- Hannah
Hey CarlJoseph, I hope it's okay for me to jump in here as well.
Just to confirm, are you able to access the Dropbox website as normal?
Also, can you try our offline installer for Mac, to see if that works?
I can access the Dropbox website fine, and it has all my files. Just uninstalled and used the offline installer, but it's exactly the same problem.
I was recently travelling in a different country and it seemed to work okay there, but not since I got back.
If I switch networks (say to my mobile hotspot) it will sync for a bit then get stuck in the "Reconnecting to the internet". Then I switch back to my home network and it does the same, sync for a bit then get stuck.
- Hannah
Thanks for the update, Carl.
Can you check if the date and time are correct on your computer?
Also, are you mainly using a personal or a company network?
Already checked, date/time/location are all correct, and using a personal network
Have just reinstalled again and this time opted to not use the File Provider. It seems to be syncing my docs so that's a good start. Once it's finished, I'll enable File Provider and see that happens.
- Hannah
Sounds good, Carl!
Please keep us updated with the results.
Thanks!
No luck. It just pulled down the index of all the files (kept many of the files online it seemed). When I turned File Provider back it, it's just stuck trying to connect like before.
This is extremely frustrating. What's more is that I put in an actual support request but am getting zero response from them, even though I'm paying. Appreciate you trying to help me here.
My ~/Library/CloudStorage looks like this:
Same problem. Re-enabled File Provider and it still looks stuck. Without File Provider it seemed to just download the index of files, not the files themselves.
My ~/Library/CloudStorage now looks like this: https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/4e22dw1hjxvr6ws5ri9pa/Screenshot-2025-07-08-at-11.27.33.png?rlkey=vb3jsg7j37tg1iyfwhcyw54hq&st=kxbmyrrx&dl=0
Here's a video of what it looks like when I change from my phone hotspot to my local network. Both internet connections show the same problems:
- https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/clfl06hrbx9b7nviaobyu/Screen-Recording-2025-07-08-at-12.34.06.mp4?rlkey=zv0ki04zyecy1350i6bijiib1&st=0os79deh&dl=0
- https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/0cctqbdyiqjbaod5g8b1y/Screen-Recording-2025-07-08-at-12.35.30.mp4?rlkey=tyjttimbz2hq7fk1dd3a1fth3&st=scqoaftz&dl=0
Tried yet again (this is so frustrating) - completely obliterated everything Dropbox from my Mac. From ~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox folder, .pref files, cache files, absolutely everything.
Rebooted. Reinstalled Dropbox using the offline installer. Selected only one small folder to sync.
Nothing. Nada. Niente.
