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Forum Discussion

prc87's avatar
prc87
Helpful | Level 6
5 years ago
Solved

Help! "Couldn't start Dropbox" error (Mac & Big Sur)

Dropbox won't start on my MacBook Air (13" 2018), with Big Sur 11.3.1. Have uninstalled dropbox and reinstalled. Same error Uninstalled again, advanced re-install. Same error AFAIK, vanilla ins...
desktop
Error Messages
Mac
Setting up the apps
  • prc87's avatar
    prc87
    5 years ago

    Ran these changes, but no different.

     

    Tried once more, after double-checking firewall off.

     

    uninstall DB

    reboot

    delete DB folders from local storage, and empty bin

    reboot

    search and delete every 'dropbox' named file in ~/library

    reboot

    advanced reinstall

    reboot

    logoff DB on webclient

    reboot

    start DB

    login

    accept all vanilla (recommended) options

    and it started and seems to be sync-ing correctly.

     

    Not sure what changed this time around, but DB seems to be working again. 

     

    Thanks for your help.

Megan's avatar
Megan
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
5 years ago
Would it be possible for me to reach out via email, LBG01? 

I'd be happy to see more info on it there.
LBG01's avatar
LBG01
Explorer | Level 3
5 years ago

Sure.  Send me your email.  Any help figuring this out would be appreciated.

  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    5 years ago
    Hi LBG01!

    You should have an email from me, in order for us to look into this.

    Reply back, and I'll see you there!
  • LBG01's avatar
    LBG01
    Explorer | Level 3
    5 years ago

    OK

    • prc87's avatar
      prc87
      Helpful | Level 6
      5 years ago

      After experiencing the ‘could not start’ problem with Big Sur, and fixing it, the problem resurfaced when upgrading to Monterey. 

       

      The solution, for us, was to

      1. Decommission the BitDefender anti-ransomware (one aspect of which prevents new software from running unless approved)
      2. Remove dropbox completely from the computer
      3. Reboot
      4. Do the advanced dropbox install
      5. Reboot
      6. Reinstate BitDefender
      7. ‘Whitelist’ dropbox within BitDefender
      8. Reboot

      All applications, including both BitDefender and dropbox started correctly, and they seem to be operating correctly too.

      • LBG01's avatar
        LBG01
        Explorer | Level 3
        5 years ago

        Hi-  Any other thoughts?  Still same error on DB desktop.  Can access on my Laptop running Monterey.  Still not working on my iMac running the same system.

         

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