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Forum Discussion

Black_Cat's avatar
Black_Cat
Helpful | Level 5
2 years ago

What is com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent and can I delete it?

I’m currently running macOS 12.7.1 Monterey.

 

I found an old, broken reference to a file named com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent

 

Apparently this file used to be used to automatically update Dropbox:

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Apps-and-Installations/Disable-automatic-updates/td-p/2835/page/7

 

Is this file still used by Dropbox?  Can I safely delete the .plist that refers to this file?

 

Thank you.

5 Replies

  • Hannah's avatar
    Hannah
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    2 years ago

    Hey Black_Cat, thanks for posting your question.

     

    Can you let us know why you'd like to delete the .plist file?

     

    Unless you have an issue with the desktop app, I would advise you not to delete it.

     

    But if you do have an issue with the app, please let us know, so we can assist you further.

     

    Thanks.

  • Black_Cat's avatar
    Black_Cat
    Helpful | Level 5
    2 years ago

    Let me clarify my original question.

     

    I use Lingon X  to create and manage plists.  After replacing a failing HDD with an SSD I found that Lingon is flagging several errors and I’m trying to address these errors.  One of the errors is that Lingon can not find a plist named com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent in ~/Library

     

     

    A old forum post from 2014 seems to indicate that com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent used to be used to automatically update Dropbox but is no longer.

     

    My problem is that Lingon can not find com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent and my question is whether Ligon’s failure to find it is a problem.  I’m guessing that I can simply delete this entry in Lingon.

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

    Hey Black_Cat - thanks for the clarifications and the screenshots too.

     

    We do not recommend deleting it, as it's still used to auto-update Dropbox, and this can likely interfere with Dropbox’s ability to update. 

     

    I hope this helps!

  • Black_Cat's avatar
    Black_Cat
    Helpful | Level 5
    2 years ago
    @walter

    Ok.

    WHERE is com.dropbox.DropboxMacUpdate.agent !?!

    I can’t find it in ~/Library
  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    2 years ago

    Hey Black_Cat, if you search for the file name in your Finder, do you get any results? 

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