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Forum Discussion
Michael L.80
5 years agoHelpful | Level 7
Dropbox application just opens a Finder window now - won't open app!
When I run the Dropbox application on Mojave or Cataline Mac OS, instead of the application, it just opens a new Finder window. I want the application back - how do I run it?
- 5 years ago
Michael L.80 wrote:
hmm my Preferences doesn't look like yours and it doesn't have that option. Here is what I see:
I'm on Windows so it looks a bit different, but the same option is right there in your screenshot. Just change it to Dropbox desktop app.
MTibbs
4 years agoHelpful | Level 5
Hi Megan,
I am also confused by this response. I have an Apple laptop computer (specifically a MacBook Air M1 2020 with MacOs Monterey). Will Dropbox be able to help assist me and others with this Dropbox App issue? I am hoping that when I click the Dropbox App in my Dock (bottom of screen), that it will open the App and not in Finder. I was able to open the Dropbox App without Finder yesterday morning and toward the evening, I was unable to do so. I am not sure if this information is helpful, but I didn't do any update to my computer yesterday. Thanks!
Mark
Super User II
4 years agoThe screen you are talking about has been depreciated. The only thing you can now see is a finder window. The rest should be done at the website. It isnt possible to get it back now.
- wendy_mugridge4 years agoHelpful | Level 6
That is not what the message says. In any event, I find the website to be very slow and cumbersome. I can't figure out how to search for phrases.
- MC834 years agoNew member | Level 2
I really liked the feature in the app where it would list my starred folders on the left panel for side-by-side easy access next to the rest of my files. The website also no longer allows for this feature. The restructuring of the website is also more cumbersome (requires more clicks) in its organization that it was previously. How do we get this back?
- Michael L.804 years agoHelpful | Level 7
This is terrible, because the app was the only way to get links to Dropbox files (for sharing) when right-clicking on it in the Finder window didn't produce any of the Dropbox context-sensitive options, which happens routinely for some reason. Can someone at Dropbox confirm please: the standalone application is really gone and not coming back??
- mcgweno4 years agoNew member | Level 2
From Mark SuperUser II: "The screen you are talking about has been depreciated. The only thing you can now see is a finder window. The rest should be done at the website. It isnt possible to get it back now."
I don't understand, and it's pretty clear that I'm not the only one...
What is the purpose of the desktop app if it serves only as a shortcut to my system's native directory viewer, where it's syncing files with the web version, where I have to go for any of the other Dropbox functionality?
I'm writing this two weeks AFTER the apparent date that the desktop app was "deprecated," and yet I was able to download the desktop app at https://www.dropbox.com/downloading, and install it with apparent success, until I couldn't get the app to open -- OR show up on my dock, by the way. There was no messaging telling me anything about these changes, so the experience I was having was that something wasn't functioning as it should. I spent a lot of time trying to fix it! What a waste of time. Couldn't you have saved people that hassle?
Why would you do this? And why are your forum supporters like Megan (Dropboxer) so uninformed about it that they would offer a response like this:
"...weāre simplifying your desktop experience with improvements to Windows Explorer, macOS Finder, and the taskbar/menu bar.
Support for the desktop window ended on Jan 17, 2022.
Donāt worryāwe're continuing to support a great desktop app experience for you and your content is still safe with us."No shade to Megan or Mark, they're clearly doing the best they can with no communication from the powers-that-be inside Dropbox. But how are we to interpret a statement that says "the desktop window is no longer supported, but we're continuing to support a great desktop app experience"? All there is left of the desktop experience is a folder containing files syncing to the web.
I've recently gotten a new Mac laptop, and have been going back and forth on whether to stay with Dropbox or acquiesce to Apple's pressure to switch to iCloud -- which is not only built in, but would save me $13 a month. I think you've provided the tie-breaker.
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