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Forum Discussion
Lost access to Desktop folder on Mac when I downloaded Dropbox, and now can't access.
I've lost access to the Desktop, Documents and Downloads file on my mac - help??
I just set up a new Dropbox account with a different email. When it asked whether I wanted to sync/back-up Desktop, Documents and Downloads folders, I said no, because when I did this with a previous account, this caused problems. I thought that this would mean that my Desktop files etc would just remain on my hard drive, and I would have a Dropbox folder with things I wanted to back up to the cloud.
I just set up a new Dropbox account with a different email. When it asked whether I wanted to sync/back-up Desktop, Documents and Downloads folders, I said no, because when I did this with a previous account, this caused problems. I thought that this would mean that my Desktop files etc would just remain on my hard drive, and I would have a Dropbox folder with things I wanted to back up to the cloud.
But this has caused all the icons to disappear from my Desktop!
Luckily the files are still there when I search for them. When I got to Desktop folder in Finder and click on it, a message says 'The operation can’t be completed because the original item for “Desktop” can’t be found.'
Logging out of Dropbox didn't help.
Help???
44 Replies
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WAIT... It was YOU?!?! DROPBOX?! You locked me out of my own computer?? I've been pulling my hair out over this, and it was Dropbox that locked me out of my own computer?! Why? For what possible purpose would you design your solution to do this??
- Walter
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hey ak_alpenglow, sorry to hear about this.
Can you please let us know some additional information about the issue you're having so that we can assist further?
Omg I'm just figuring this out too. Did you ever resolve? I'm at a loss of how dropbox has taken over my desktop, downloads and documents. Everything is set to not back up and its still taking over the pathway of my desktop. My actual "desktop" folder in my Mac has different files..this is infuriating
- I did. I eventually got a talk to your dropbox engineer to help work this out with me. There were a lot of terminal commands in about two weeks of work.
- Hannah
Hey Jackie123, does backup appear as disabled, when you go to your backups page online?
I punted on Dropbox as they were so unhelpful and it does not play well with Apple anymore. I switched to Apple's storage plan. Ugh.
I have the same issue. not with my desktop, but with my music folder. how can I get this folder back into the regular file structure?
I am having the exact same issue. I no longer have access to my Desktop, Documents, and Downloads.
Does a fox exist or must I create a new Mac profile?
