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Forum Discussion
Dropbox only opens the Dropbox folder in finder - not the app.
Any help would be appreciated - thank you! (I can't seem to find anything that can help...)
Application Affected
Dropbox
Device
Apple MacBook Pro M1 Max, 64Gb of RAM, 2Tb SDD
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)
MacOS Tahoe 26.2
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)
240.4.8493 (I got this from the "Get Info" in the finder)
Question or Issue
1) Whenever I double-click the dropbox app, it opens the dropbox FOLDER in the finder. How do I open the app?
2) The menu bar icon, which previously would show sync status, sync issues, and provides access to preferences, is not shown. I have a 36" screen, and it isn't a case of "hidden" menu items.
3) I know that the app is (mostly?) running. Control-Clicking on a file shows the dropbox commands within the context menu. (See image below.)
I also know its running because the various apps are shown in "Activity Monitor" (image below.)
Steps I've done to try to solve the problem:
- Uninstall Dropbox
- Reinstall Dropbox
- Restart the computer.
I don't feel comfortable doing the "Advanced Install", as it appears that doing so means losing all of my "selective sync" settings, which I've been setting up for years. (And since I can't get into the app's "prefs", I can't super easily see what is selectively synced or not.
I'm at the point where I'm ready to toss the program out and move everything to Google, but I REALLY LOVE the program, and am hoping that I'm simply missing something simple, and there there is a quick fix.
Thanks - Randall
15 Replies
- Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
H LoganAnady, could you clarify what you mean by the Dropbox setting?
This will help me to assist further!
Where do you access this "dropbox setting"?
When I reinstall it doesn't prompt me or ask me any questions regarding that.
I’ve fixed the issue. I used Claude cowork, and got it to examine the app, and “fix” everything based on what it found online. Instill couldn’t get the icon in the menu bar, so got it to go through the myriad files and determine which one was the settings app. Then finally created an icon in Mac Automator to call the command to start that program. While it’s still not in the menubar, I now can get into the program whenever I like,
- Walter
Let me know if anything else comes up SoundMind72!
I'll look into it, hopefully it's a simple fix again.
- Walter
Glad to hear you managed to sort this out in the end and thanks for keeping us in the loop too SoundMind72.
When it comes to the missing syncing icons, is it possible that there's a 3rd party app or service that might be monitoring your files somehow?
SOLVED: In reinstalling the app, it seems the Dropbox setting to Allow in the Menu Bar was off. I can't believe it was this simple. Thanks everyone, I'll try and see why there's no ticks next to the files now.
I've checked with Activity Monitor and Dropbox is running and is syncing with another device, there's just no Menu bar icon and when I quit the app in Activity Monitor and relaunch it goes straight to the Dropbox folder and the Menu icon doesn't appear. Also, there are no ticks next to the files that are in the Dropbox.
Yes it does
- Walter
Does the issue persist even after an advanced reinstall as well SoundMind72?
