Take Your Search Game to the Next Level with Dropbox Dash  🚀✨ Curious how it works? Ask us here! 

Forum Discussion

folder's avatar
folder
Explorer | Level 3
27 days ago

"Installation failed. The Dropbox installation failed to start" error on Windows 11

Dropbox has worked fine for many years on my Lenovo Thinkpad X1, then suddenly stopped working. The link on the start menu became inactive. Starting Dropbox from dropbox.exe directly said the installation was corrupt.

I have downloaded the Installer and the Off-line installer and both give the message "Installation failed. The Dropbox installation failed to start".

Turning off the Microsoft Firewall and Anti-Virus makes no difference. There is no VPN installed. Window 11 has all the updates. Also I have uninstalled Dropbox from my computer and tried to reinstall, again the Dropbox installation will not start. At each stage my computer has been rebooted.

My datafile to which Dropbox is attached remains intact.

It seems I not the only person suffering this problem, but no final solution seems to be offered. I wondered about searching my registry to delete any references to Dropbox.

Can anyone suggest a solution?

desktop
Error Messages
Windows

13 Replies

Sort By
  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    19 days ago

    Hi folder, are you able to select the parent folder in which the Dropbox folder exists?

    For instance, if the folder is C:\Files\Dropbox, choose C:\Files for the Dropbox folder.

  • folder's avatar
    folder
    Explorer | Level 3
    20 days ago

    I have now got the installer to run, after using a program to remove every reference to Dropbox. However now I have a problem linking to my existing Dropbox folder. When I go to Advanced Features the dropdown menu for file location says it will create a new Dropbox folder:

    You can see that the existing Dropbox folder is listed but I do not want another one created within it.

    How to proceed to link to the existing Dropbox folder to sync it with the online Dropbox data?

  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    21 days ago

    Hi folder, in this case can I send you an email, in order for us to have a closer look into this?

  • folder's avatar
    folder
    Explorer | Level 3
    21 days ago

    Windows asks if I want the program to make changes to the computer. Answer yes and the message dropbox installer failed to start appears. You may send an email.

  • folder's avatar
    folder
    Explorer | Level 3
    21 days ago

    Windows asks if I want the program to make changes to the computer. Answer yes and the message dropbox installer failed to start appears.

  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    21 days ago

    Hey folder, let me also jump in here! 

    Do you get the error on the screenshot, right when you're about to run the .exe file? 

    In any case, can I send you an email, in order for us to have a closer look into this?

  • folder's avatar
    folder
    Explorer | Level 3
    21 days ago

    I do not think so. It is Windows 11 Pro 24H2.

  • Nancy's avatar
    Nancy
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    21 days ago

    Hey folder, hope you don’t mind if I jump in here. You don’t happen to use Windows 11 in S mode, correct?

  • folder's avatar
    folder
    Explorer | Level 3
    22 days ago

    There has not been an answer to why stable build 222.4.5042 produces either:

    OR the same installation error reported in the start of this thread.

  • Hannah's avatar
    Hannah
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    27 days ago

    Hey folder, I'm afraid that if the app is not running, you won't be able to see your selective sync settings.

    Does the advanced reinstall help otherwise?

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.

Need More Support

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 or Facebook.

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!