The Dropbox desktop app on my computer is giving me an error when I try to sign in

[jvoong]

Hello,

For some reason, I cannot sign into the Dropbox app on the computer anymore. At first, I was having problems with syncing. It kept saying that I was not connected to the internet. So I uninstalled and reinstalled it. I also changed Proxy Setting to "No Proxy" as I heard it may fix the problem.

Now, when I try to sign in, this message appears:

Not sure what I can do at this point to get Dropbox to be working on my computer desktop anymore. Please help!

Thank you!

[Hannah]

Hey @jvoong, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Did you perhaps install any security apps like an antivirus or maybe you have a firewall that might be blocking Dropbox from connecting?

If you do, try temporarily disabling those, to see if that helps.

Let me know what you find!

[jvoong]

Hannah,

I tried disabling Firewalls and any Antivirus programs. It is still giving me the same issue.

[Jay]

Hi @jvoong, is there a possibility that a proxy, VPN, or even ISP/router settings could be restricting traffic to the following Dropbox domains?
 

[jvoong]

Hi Jay,

What steps can I take to check for it?

[Jay]

Do you connect in any specific way to the internet? Are you able to access the Dropbox site normally via a browser?

[jvoong]

Hi @Jay,

I can connected through the home wifi. I am able to log in Dropbox in the browser with no problem. I am just having difficulty connecting through the Dropbox App on the desktop. I've tried reinstalling, and it still does not work.

[Nancy]

Hi @jvoong, I hope it’s OK if I jump in here. 

Just out of curiosity, can you try to connect to another WiFi/network, and let me know if you’re still having the same issue?

[jenplacido]

I would like to inquire regarding where in Windows does Dropbox Proxy > Auto-detect setting get the proxy information. Is it the Proxy section of the Windows Setting? If yes, what part?

The reason I'm asking is that I am troubleshooting an issue with one of my clients who also uses Trend Micro Web Security proxy to scan and monitor internet browsing. Despite having no proxy script entered in the Windows Proxy settings (was erased as a test and saved), the Dropbox application still fails to connect to the login page due to having no internet (which is not true). Checking the firewall traffic showed that the Dropbox connection still passes through the Trend Micro proxy despite the Windows Proxy Settings field already being empty. It was only when setting the Dropbox to "No Proxy" that the connection proceeds and not go through the Trend Micro web proxy.

We were wondering based on Step 4 of the article Connect the desktop app to a proxy server - Dropbox Help where Dropbox gets the "default settings" if Auto-detect is selected.

Thanks.

[Demitri]

Heya Jen -- 

When it comes to Dropbox and Proxies theres two main things to keep in mind: 

1. If you don't have a proxy or you have a proxy configured in your OS - you don't have to take any action in Dropbox. Default proxy settings in Dropbox will just route your Dropbox app traffic based on whatever your OS is configured to do with it's connection. If you have a proxy in place in Windows, Dropbox will route it's traffic the same as the rest of your computer (through the proxy). 

2. Alternatively, if you want to ONLY have Dropbox traffic routed through your proxy, then you can configure your proxy settings into the Dropbox desktop application specifically and it will only affect your Dropbox traffic. The rest of your computer will route traffic based on what your OS is configured for. 

I'm not familiar with Trend Micro in particular -- it's possible it's doing something to affect your device's traffic as a whole, but I would defer to their support team for particulars on their service.

From what you described, if setting Dropbox as 'no proxy' allows traffic through normally - that makes me think your device itself does have a proxy enabled (even if it's not immediately apparent from your Windows settings), and this configuration is allowing Dropbox to circumvent your device's configured proxy to connect directly. You may want to explore this further with your provider to better understand their app.

Hope this helps!