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Heather G.6's avatar
Heather G.6
New member | Level 1
11 years ago
Solved

How do I remove Dropbox from my Mac if I get an error message when attempting to uninstall?

I am trying to delete the Dropbox app from my Mac, but it gives me an error message saying 'The item “Dropbox” can’t be moved to the Trash because some of its plugins are in use', even after closing all other open applications. What could these plugins be and how can I stop them from being in use?

Thanks

desktop
Error Messages
Mac
Setting up the apps
Uninstall
  • Piet Hein C.'s avatar
    Piet Hein C.
    11 years ago

    I had the same problem:
    Open Activity Monitor (search for it with spotlight) and force quit the Dropbox process (I used the searchbox on the right to find it)
    After that I could delete the application

48 Replies

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  • Piet Hein C.'s avatar
    Piet Hein C.
    New member | Level 1
    11 years ago

    I had the same problem:
    Open Activity Monitor (search for it with spotlight) and force quit the Dropbox process (I used the searchbox on the right to find it)
    After that I could delete the application

  • Glen Y.'s avatar
    Glen Y.
    New member | Level 1
    11 years ago

    Piet Hein C. Your solution worked perfectly! Thanks!

  • Rajat G.1's avatar
    Rajat G.1
    New member | Level 1
    11 years ago

    I am using Yosemite. I first quit Dropbox from the Menubar but could not Trash Dropbox from my Applications folder as certain plug ins were functioning. So, I opened Activity monitor and found that Dropbox Finder Integration was still working.I could not force quit it from Activity Monitor. So I opened Dropbox again and clicked on the Dropbox Icon on the menubar and opened Preferences to disable Dropbox Finder integration and two other plug ins. After that I could trash Dropbox from Applications seamlessly.

  • Ivan L.4's avatar
    Ivan L.4
    New member | Level 1
    11 years ago

    The answer from Piet Hein C. worked perfectly. Thanks! :)

  • Caryn R.1's avatar
    Caryn R.1
    New member | Level 1
    11 years ago

    Thank Goddess!! I was getting really frustrated with this. I will not be reinstalling Dropbox - ever! OneDrive is better anyway

  • Boris K.5's avatar
    Boris K.5
    New member | Level 1
    11 years ago

    Rajat G. works for Yosemite (10.10),I guess the other suggestions were from older OS X systems. I also had to unlink my computer in order to get the plugin error to disappear.

  • Jim W.27's avatar
    Jim W.27
    New member | Level 1
    11 years ago

    Rajat - your proposed solution worked perfectly for me. Thanks so much!!!! I'm on a Mac OS X btw

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