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Forum Discussion
panttaja
10 months agoHelpful | Level 5
Dropbox is stuck on 'Starting...' on my new Mac computer.
I just used Migration Assistant to move to a new MacBook Air. Clicked on the Dropbox icon in the menu bar - it said Starting. I have uninstalled Dropbox and reinstalled it. When I start up the computer - and click on the icon - it says Starting. So far I have waited for an hour. I used Activity Monitor - and it doesn't look like Dropbox is doing anything. No CPU usage, no Disk usage, no Network.
I have tried a couple of different networks (including going in to a Starbucks). The networks were all fine.
I am assuming there is some relic from the original installation that is causing it issues.
It is terribly frustrativing that Dropbox just displays this one message - surely they realize something is wrong. I have wasted several hours trying - and retrying - things like uninstall and re-install.
Dropbox still works on the original computer - and in the browser. But this unfortunately leaves me with a useless new computer while I wait for Dropbox (the company) to wake up tomorrow and perhaps get back to me.
Mac M3 14.6.1. Latest version of Dropbox 206.4.6506
I added another reboot of the computer - after running the commands in terminal. It looks like it may be working -- I now see my folders and it appears to be starting to sync. We will see.
6 Replies
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- Nancy10 months ago
Dropbox Community Moderator
I’m sorry to hear about this, @panttaja.
When reinstalling the Dropbox app, did you also perform an advanced reinstall?
I could also locate your support ticket in our system and I’ve left our team an internal note on your behalf.
Keep me posted for any updates.
- panttaja10 months agoHelpful | Level 5
Thank you for the suggestions - the advanced reinstall link you sent is for a windows machine. I am running no a mac. I will dig and see if I can find a similar post for my mac.
- panttaja10 months agoHelpful | Level 5
I found the Mac tab in this post - I will try these items. Unfortunately Dropbox requires me to download the app each time I do this - and I have uninstalled Dropbox a dozen times in trying to solve this. It is tedious.
- Megan10 months ago
Dropbox Community Moderator
I definitely see where you're coming from @panttaja.
In any case, feel free to update us once you try out the advanced reinstall steps.
- panttaja10 months agoHelpful | Level 5
Unfortunately another waste of my time. I executed the commands in Terminal on the Mac. I then clicked on the download link. This time is downloaded the .dmg rather than the installer. I double clicked on the .dmg file - and it installed. The date on the file is 1979(???) I then ran the app - and I get to the same error - 'Starting...'.
- panttaja10 months agoHelpful | Level 5
I added another reboot of the computer - after running the commands in terminal. It looks like it may be working -- I now see my folders and it appears to be starting to sync. We will see.
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