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macOS Sequoia 15.5 - Getting a message that "The application couldn't be found", after an update.
I've been a Dropbox user for many years. Within the last few months, whenever Dropbox automatically updates on my Mac currently running macOS 15.5 I've noted that in Finder I will see a message above files in my Dropbox folder of "The application "Dropbox" could not be found." and nothing will sync, even though Dropbox is running.
Rebooting my Mac seems to resolve the issue as everything works properly after a reboot and the message is gone in Finder.
This seems like a recent bug as Dropbox didn't do this for many years on my Macs.
I'm not sure how to prevent the issue from happening the next time an update rolls out, or what to do to "fix" this as an end user other than a reboot. It's not the end of the world, but it's a regression and is a bit annoying.
62 Replies
- Hannah
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hey Vinylizor, sorry to hear that!
Can you send us a screenshot of the error?
Are you also on macOS Sequoia 15.5?
And which version of the Dropbox app are you using? You can see that by hovering over the Dropbox icon in your menu bar.
That will also show you the app's sync status, so please send that to us as well.
I've been having this issue constantly for the last 6 months and it's currently happening several times a day. Mac intel 235.2.1296.
Anyone figured it out or had a decent response from tech support?
- Megan
Hey obsidianspider!
No worries. I went ahead and sent a brand-new email. Please reply back to me as soon as possible, in order for me to go ahead and escalate your ticket to our specialized team.
Thanks!
Hi Megan,
I tried that and got an automated response saying the mailbox was unmonitored?
For what it's worth, the problem is back and more persistent than ever with 232.4.5926. Now I seem to have to manually quit and restart Dropbox every day or two to get it working.The only step in the article that was applicable to me was to give Dropbox full disk access. I haven't had an issue for the past three days - hopefully that resolved the problem
- Megan
Hey obsidianspider!
I had opened a ticket on my end for you that seems to have closed due to inactivity since we last talked.
Can you try replying back in order for a new ticket to be created in our system?
It looks like the problem is back with 231.4.5770
Quitting and restarting Dropbox fixes the problem. Still not clear what is causing the issue.- Hannah
Hey RRGroves, I'm really sorry to hear that, I totally understand where you're coming from.
Can you please check out this article and especially these steps here, to see if they help at all?
The past week this has happened to me about a dozen times, on both my MacBook Pro and my Mac Studio. Both are totally up to date with OS and application updates. Its not much use having Dropbox if files dont sync, and I usually dont notice the error message until I am at at the other computer and wondering why my files are messed up.
Quitting the app and restarting it does work, for a few hours or a few days, but it is happening enough that Dropbox is no longer reliable.
