Logged out of the Dropbox app and back in and now I have a 'Dropbox (old)' and a 'Dropbox' folder

At some point in the past few weeks, I was automatically logged out of my Dropbox account. When prompted to log back in, the app setup process began as if the Dropbox app was not already installed on my system. I tried force quitting the app and restarting my computer, but this didn't solve the issue.

I tried following the prompts. I was presented with a message stating that I already had a Dropbox folder set up on my machine. The menu didn't provide me with the option to use the existing Dropbox folder. Instead, it only offered that I rename my original folder something else, or choose a different location (same menu the OP screenshotted above).

Ultimately I uninstalled Dropbox causing my existing indexed folder to become hidden. When I reinstalled Dropbox, it created a new Dropbox Folder on my main boot (C:) drive (my original folder stayed hidden on my larger (D:) drive). When Dropbox was installed, I tried re-assigning the new Dropbox folder to my (D:) drive, but the app would immediately crash, I assume because it saw the other Dropbox folder there.

Ultimately I resorted to renaming the original folder "Dropbox (old)" and allowing the Dropbox app to create a new Dropbox folder on the same drive. My Dropbox (old) folder contains 1.25 TB of data, 522GB of which is on my local disk. There are 71,000 files and 5,900 folders. I'm wary of the process of re-indexing this data to the new Dropbox folder. 

It should be noted that, unlike OP, I'm not being repeatedly logged out. My primary concern is the possibility that some of my files on my Dropbox (old) folder haven't been uploaded and synced, and will be lost if I allow the new Dropbox folder to overwrite it. Why can't I simply reconnect my existing Dropbox folder to my online account? Why does the app not allow for this? This is the first time something like this has happened. Dropbox has worked really well for me up until this point. But this breakdown in functionality feels bordering on catastrophic, especially if I were in the middle of a project (thankfully I am not). If there's not a clear way to proceed, I will probably just move my data to my GDrive account and call it quits with DB.

Hi aloom127​, you can reconnect an existing Dropbox folder by performing an advanced reinstallation of the Dropbox desktop application, and following the last steps in this article to link your old Dropbox folder?

This happened to me as well, and now continues to be problematic. Dropbox, this is an ultimate failure for the system. Tech support helped me a little, but it was a hack solution. Completely unacceptable especially for those of us paying a significant fee for the service. 

I've had this issue for a few weeks now. It is STAGGERING how unbelievably trash the Dropbox setup is.

I log in, specify what files I want synced, and I immediately get logged out. It then reboots the app, and tells me to rename the Dropbox folder (as if it's a new setup). This loops forever.

How this kind of error is allowed by an organization as big as Dropbox, I will never understand.

mikes103 wrote:

How this kind of error is allowed by an organization as big as Dropbox, I will never understand.

If this was a widespread issue caused by an error in the application, then these forums would be filled with A LOT more people reporting the issue. Typically, something like this is more likely to be a problem with the specific installation or something similar, and not an indicator of a widespread issue.

mikes103 wrote:

It then reboots the app, and tells me to rename the Dropbox folder (as if it's a new setup). This loops forever.

Have you tried an advanced reinstall, as Jay suggested above?