Dropbox fails to start because of permission issues for a nonexistent folder in macOS monterey 12.6

[tonysf]

I am using a macbook air m1 running monterey 12.6. I had previously successfully installed dropbox with no issues, then dropbox stopped working because I changed the name of my home folder + user account in macOS.

Dropbox still has full access to all folders, full accessbility, etc. This is NOT an issue of dropbox not being permissions. This is also NOT an issue of updating monterey as dropbox was working perfectly fine on this version before.

When I start up dropbox, it asks me to provide a password because "Dropbox needs to change permissions for the Folder: /Users/(OLD USER FOLDER NAME)/.dropbox". I supply the correct password and then it fails to do whatever it was trying to do, giving me the message "Couldn't start Dropbox. This is usually because of a permissions error. Storing your home folder on a network share can also cause an error. For more information, click the help button below." Then, dropbox completely shuts down and I don't have any chance to modify any settings before it does.

My issue is that I have uninstalled and reinstalled dropbox countless times, it should not be looking in /Users/(OLDER USER FOLDER NAME)/.dropbox anymore, I don't understand why it thinks this folder even still exists if I have uninstalled and reinstalled at least 3 times?

[Rich · Accepted solution]

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@tonysf wrote:

... I changed the name of my home folder + user account in macOS. ... it should not be looking in /Users/(OLDER USER FOLDER NAME)/.dropbox anymore, I don't understand why it thinks this folder even still exists if I have uninstalled and reinstalled at least 3 times?

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You need to perform a complete re-install. Refer to Stefanie's post in the following thread:

• https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Apps-and-Installations/changed-home-folder-name-now-db-will-not-star...

[tonysf]

Thanks Rich

[alinabo12]

iMac 2017 MacOS Monterey 12.0.1 Dropbox was working great until a few days after installing Monterey 12.0.1 The Dropbox app will no longer load on my menu bar. After it tries I get a pop up " Couldn't start Dropbox. This is usually because of permissions error. Storing your home folder on a network share can also cause an error. For more information, click the help link below. Please contact Dropbox support with the following info for help: " with a link to different dropbox error coding after each attempt. I have tried to figure out how to uninstall Dropbox but all your FAQ tell me to click on the icon in the menu bar which does not load. I have tried twice to download a new version of Dropbox using Dropbox Installer but each time I get an error code as well.

[Jay]

HI @alinabo12, when the Dropbox desktop application attempts to run, you should get a message with an error log. Could you copy and paste that log in your reply in order to assist further?