Windows 10 Protected Folder Access

[stlouey]

Hi, i have dropbox installed and have noticed i have recently started seeing Windows 10 Protected Folder Access Blocked alerts for Dropbox.exe tryign to access the Music and Documnets folders in my profile even though i have not setup these fodlers for synicng and do not have the Backups feature enabled? Could someone advise why dropbox is trying to access these folders and how to stop? Thanks

[Walter]

Have you tried replying through your email directly instead @stlouey?

[brendanr]

I am having this issue too, with all of our managed Windows devices. We have backups disabled in Dropbox, and Folder Protection enabled in Microsoft Endpoint Manager. Users constantly receive protected folder access blocked notifications. Dropbox is attempting to access %userprofile%\Music repeatedly.

Microsoft Endpoint Manager | Folder Protection Enabled

Microsoft Endpoint Manager

Windows Defender Log | Dropbox Blocked Example

Windows Defender Protected Folder Error

Dropbox | Backups Disabled

Dropbox Admin Center - Backup Disabled

[Walter]

Hey @brendanr, sorry for the late response. 

If you're still having issues with this, may we reach out via email to investigate further?

[brankogrbac]

What is the status of this ticket? When can we expect it to be resolved?

My protection history is filled with these messages of Dropbox attempting to access %userprofile%\Music but backup is not enabled on any of the folders.

It may be useful to note that this usually happens when I create a screenshot in Windows with Win + Shift + S. it happened twice while I was making the photos for this report. How is this even related?

[Nancy]

@brankogrbac, are you, by any chance, saving your screenshots automatically to Dropbox? 

If you're not sure, you can also take a look here.

[brankogrbac]

No, I am not saving my screenshots automatically to Dropbox.

[Nancy]

Let's check something else then; can you please visit this page, and let me know if you see any active backups there?

[brankogrbac]

Zero backups listed. I have the option to setup backup.

[Walter]

Hey @brankogrbac, sorry to jump in and thanks for your patience while we checked on this internally with the team.

So, this is expected to some extent as the desktop app itself integrates with your computer's file-system to give you Dropbox tools (right click options), even outside your Dropbox folder on Windows, but unless you take specific steps to configure them for sync, only the content in your Dropbox folder is syncing up or down.

In general we'd recommend whitelisting the Dropbox.exe application itself in your anti-virus/security software to avoid these kinds of issues, as well as potential interruptions to sync. 

Let me know if this helps.