The Dropbox desktop app won't open on my Mac device

Application Affected
Dropbox
Device
Macbook Pro
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)
Mac 13.3
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)
Cant Open App, Installed Latest Version Today

Question or Issue
Dropbox won't open the app, only the finder window. I can force it to open dropbox backup from the website but it doesnt appear to be backing up anything. I can see it running in activity monitor but not in force quit applications. Without automatic backups working and the access to the application there is no point in the service.

Haliph wrote:

Dropbox won't open the app, only the finder window.

What icon are you clicking on? If Dropbox is already running and you click the icon to launch it, it opens the Dropbox folder in Finder. Make sure you're clicking on the small Dropbox icon located in your menu bar, near the clock, to open the app itself.

unfortunately there's no dropbox icon in the menu. I did figure out however that when I turn off NordVPN it works so something between the two is incompatible.

Haliph wrote:

I did figure out however that when I turn off NordVPN it works so something between the two is incompatible.

A quick search on Google gave a few results pointing to Nord's Threat Protection being the issue. You may need to add Dropbox to an allow list if you have Threat Protection turned on.

yeah my searches led me to turn off ad and tracker blocker. still unsure why dropbox wont backup though. they say "done" but are sitting at 0 bytes.

Hey Haliph - sorry to hear about this.

Can you try a reinstalling the app using the offline installer from this page directly and let me know if this persists?

Thanks!

I'd found a thread that suggested this so I'd already done it. No luck :/

Currently even disabling my VPN won't open the dropbox app

In that case, the next step would be an advanced reinstall at this point Haliph.

Can you give it a go and let us know how it goes? 

Hi there, Haliph!

A quick follow-up to our last message! Let us know if you still need assistance or if everything is working as expected.