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obsidianspider's avatar
obsidianspider
Explorer | Level 4
6 months ago

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.

desktop
Error Messages
Mac

56 Replies

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

    That's great to hear! Don't hesitate to let me know if anything comes up.

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

    Hi again, dhershdb! Did the advanced reinstall help you in the end?

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

    Hey dhershdb!

    I'll be waiting for your updates. Fingers crossed that this will do the trick. If not, we'll be one post away, so give us a shout. 

    Thanks!

  • dhershdb's avatar
    dhershdb
    New member | Level 2
    10 days ago

    Hi Nancy​ - I have reinstalled dropbox in the past, although I didn't do the advanced reinstall outlined in earlier replies to this thread. I tried that yesterday, so we'll see if that does the trick. Thanks

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

    Hey dhershdb, have you also tried reinstalling the Dropbox app on your end? 

    Did you only start facing this issue after upgrading to macOS Sequoia?

  • dhershdb's avatar
    dhershdb
    New member | Level 2
    13 days ago

    I've been having this same issue for months. Files added locally won't sync and I get the "the application dropbox could not be found" message in Finder. I have to quit and restart Dropbox to get things working, but that fix doesn't persist. I'm on Sequoia 15.6.1. Dropbox version 237.4.5655.

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

    Did you get the chance to try out Walter’s suggestion, SunumOfisi? If yes, let us know how it went.

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    2 months ago

    Hey SunumOfisi​ - sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

    Can you clarify the OS version of your devices and let me know if you've tried reinstalling the app since you first noticed this?

    Let us know more and we'll take it from there. 

  • SunumOfisi's avatar
    SunumOfisi
    New member | Level 2
    2 months ago

    Came here to write that this issue still persists. I'm on Dropbox 235.4.5905 and every several minutes I need to go to Applications and double click on Dropbox icon to 'start' the software. Otherwise, my files remain inaccessible within the folder.

    No security software running. I experience this problem both on my Mac mini and MacBook Pro so it's not device related either.

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