2025 sparked some incredible conversations across our community 👩💻. Discover the highlights and see what’s ahead in 2026.
Forum Discussion
Alex M.76
10 years agoExplorer | Level 4
Dropbox Icon missing Windows 10
I fired my laptop up a couple of days ago and I noticed that the dropbox icon in the taskbar was missing. I checked task manager and dropbox is running theres just no icon and if I kill the task and double click on the dropbox exe it loads the app but does not show the Icon so I am unable to check my settings or anything else. Oddly enough it is still working fine on my main desktop.
I have completely uninstalled dropbox and reinstalled a couple of times but there is no change to my issue.
Also, when I launch the installer, after it has downloaded the dropbox files via the installer it doesn't actually launch the install process to let me input my user account or link my files but if I check task manager it shows that dropbox.exe is running.
I am somewhat confused, can anyone help?
I have checked my AV and no issues there but I would assume if it was something to do with AV it would stop the app from being loaded
Hi, I had this same (infuriating!) problem and fixed it thusly:
Right click on the systray area
select Properties
then select Notification area > customize
At the top there is a link to "Select which icons appear on the taskbar"
Go in there and toggle whatever setting you see for your dropbox icon.
Exit out -- should be fixed.
In my case the dropbox icon was set to "on" and I toggled it off. After exiting the dialog, I had my dropbox icon back in the "show hidden icons" area. I repeated the above and toggled the dropbox icon back to "on" and now it is back in my systray where it belongs.
I hope this helps someone.
Lori
Solution: as of Sep 15 2018, right click on taskbar in windows, select "Taskbar settings," and scroll down to section "Notification Area," and select "Select which Icons Appear on the Taskbar." here you should see DROPBOX and can turn it on!
55 Replies
Replies have been turned off for this discussion
- Jane7 years ago
Dropbox Staff
Hey there (goog49), it’s my understanding that you’re referring to my post on the third page on this discussion, am I on the right track? If so, have you incidentally had a chance to check whether any of my suggestions to Ros does the trick for you?Just in order to close the circle here on our previous discussion with Ros (i.e. since this was solved on our system), it seems that a missing Windows update was the culprit for him this time. Would you mind having a second look towards this direction as well?Once you do, please keep me updated on the outcome whenever you have some spare time & I’ll do my best to follow-up with you. Have a wonderful Monday ahead until we talk again! - Roy6976 years agoNew member | Level 2
lost dropbox icon from the taskbar. Set Icon to ON. Still not on the screen.
- Jane6 years ago
Dropbox Staff
Hey there (Roy697), thanks for checking in on the Dropbox Forum on this inquiry!
Based on your description, it’s highly likely that our application isn’t running in the background (i.e. the Dropbox icon will only appear in your menu bar if the Dropbox desktop app is running). Occasionally, the Dropbox icon will seem to disappear, but this only means that the desktop app isn’t running. Would you mind relaunching the app once & see if that does the trick for you this time?SpoilerTo resolve this, first try launching the app again. If this doesn’t work, you can download (or re-download) the Dropbox desktop app and sign in to your Dropbox account when prompted. You can easily relaunch our app from your Applications folder, where you can find and run the Dropbox app.From there, I’m interested in seeing whether Dropbox appears on your Task Manager; do you see any Dropbox-related processes there running in the background?You may give my suggestions a go whenever you find some spare time & please do let me know how you get on with my advice on our conversation here. Thanks again & I’ll be awaiting your next reply! - S_D6 years agoNew member | Level 2
I am having the same issue and none of the suggested fixes actually work.
I went in to task manager and ended the Dropbox task then tried to reopen Dropbox but that seems to be what the issue is, three Dropbox.exe apps pop up in task manager, then one of the icons turns grey and says suspended next to it then 2 icons disappear before the 3rd icon also finally disappears. the systray icon is there briefly but grey, then when you move your mouse to it the icon just goes away.
Dropbox was working perfectly fine, but now the files on my Windows Desktop are not syncing up, I can still save files in my Dropbox folder on my HDD but its just not sysncing at all but I am connected to the internet and everything else seems to be working ok.
- Jane6 years ago
Dropbox Staff
Hey there (S_D) , I appreciate the time you’ve devoted to try my suggestions & thanks for pinging me back here. I’d like to dig a bit deeper & have a closer look on your setup through our Official Support channel. So as to investigate having all our tools available, I’ve made sure to reach out to you directly via email gathering all the details you’ve included on this discussion.Whenever you find some time, please check your inbox for my message & I’ll make sure to promptly get back in touch with you asap. I’ll be awaiting your next reply! - Wilw6 years agoNew member | Level 2
Brilliant thank you so much. Fixed the problem
- cchoeg6 years agoNew member | Level 2
Had exactly the same problem. Very annoying, with no error msg nothing and no clear answer on the help pages.
Uninstall and then install again solved it for me anyway!
- Ros L.6 years agoExplorer | Level 4
Yes that has worked but when it did it for me last time this happened, files that I had updated, and that other users had updated, reverted to the most recent update, meaning that the changes I had made during the time my Dropbox wasn't syncing were lost, both from the shared file and from my own copy. This was particularly important with a shared Excel file where important data was lost and this was the only copy of it.
Dropbox stopped syncing again not so long ago and I did request help again but before that got too far, closing down my laptop overnight (which I do every night anyway) was enough to get it to work again.
I really do think it's time Dropbox and Microsoft addressed this conflict, it is clearly very common, the number of issues I'm seeing. It wasn't a problem I ever experienced with Win 7
- Jane6 years ago
Dropbox Staff
Sorry to hear that you're still facing this issue Ros L.; I’ve been able to trace our dialogue back to when we had first discussed it in December & I could see your recent open Support request on our system with our team specialist. I’ve made a note of your latest comment on this email chain & I’ve increased your support priority internally, as I understand that you’d still need assistance on this matter.
Thanks for bearing with us while we’re working towards a fix!
- Doug12126 years agoNew member | Level 2
Help! Same problem, I have tons of infromation I need to get at!!!!! Help
About Apps and Installations
Have a question about a Dropbox app or installation? Reach out to the Dropbox Community and get solutions, help, and advice from members.
The Dropbox Community team is active from Monday to Friday. We try to respond to you as soon as we can, usually within 2 hours.
If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X, Facebook or Instagram.
For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.
If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!