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Context Menu Not Appearing

Context Menu Not Appearing

don2d23
Helpful | Level 5
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The Dropbox Right-click/Context Menu option does not appear any more in Windows Explorer 8.1

24 Replies 24

bagi
New member | Level 2
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I am having the exact same problem, no context menu that would allow me to share link. This is on Windows 10 Dropbox v53.3.4.67 (and several before that). Any suggestions would be welcome.

Lusil
Dropbox Staff
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Hey @bagi
 
Initially, ensure that you’ve got the latest stable version installed (53.4.67) - a beta version can be recognized by a xx.3.xx, instead of the xx.4.xx. If you’re on a beta build, it means that you have opted in to early releases in your online account settings. 
 
Have you also checked what the status of your Dropbox desktop app is? Have you also tried the advanced reinstall as well? When the reinstallation process is complete, please allow some time for the app to reindex your files and for its status to read up to date. 
 
Let me know of any update and I’ll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks! :slight_smile:

Lusil
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


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don2d23
Helpful | Level 5
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I don't know how to use the tray icon to it's full potential, but there is a check mark in the bottom left and the words "Up to date" ... is this what you are referring to?

If so, I just checked again and there is still no right-click context menu item for DropBox.

Just hovering my mouse over it also says "Up to date".

The tray icon is solid with no other "sub-icons" attached to it (as per https://www.dropbox.com/help/desktop-web/sync-icons#desktop)

 

I wish there was an option in the DropBox settings (gear icon) that could re-establish or re-install the context menu in Windows Explorer.

(or even toggle on and off so as to force the integration)

This would be a great feature for anyone else having this problem.

 

Hey! but just now that you had me mousing around in the system tray icon, I discovered a work around for my problem that will help to some degree...

Clicking the tray icon gives me the DropBox window that has a tab at the top called "Recent Files", and hovering over any one of those files shows the options to "Copy Link" !

 

This will be fine for newly added and recently added files, but I still won't be able to link to much older files. Not a problem in the short term, so this is a great relief when it's crucial to immediately share a newly uploaded file.

 

Still not the fix I was looking for, but thanks for "twisting my arm" to use that system tray icon which I've neglected for so long.

 

If you find anything that can get the context menu back, please email me. Thanks!

Lusil
Dropbox Staff
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Hi @don2d23. First off, yes!

@don2d23 wrote:

I don't know how to use the tray icon to it's full potential, but there is a check mark in the bottom left and the words "Up to date" ... is this what you are referring to?

That is exactly what I was referring to - seems good in that respect. I’m also glad to hear that you found a (temporary) solution to your initial concern, but let’s see what we can do for the long term. 
 
While further investigating this and since you mention that you’re running a Windows OS in your initial post, I found that there may be a limit of 15 overlay icons that Windows Explorer can load. If there are more than 15, then the context menus may not show.
 
Information on how to check the number of icons and steps on how to resolve this can be found at the bottom of this Help Center article, where you can choose the relevant OS. 
 
If the issue persist, let me know and I can indeed contact you via email to the email address associated to your Forum profile. Thanks! :grin:

Lusil
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


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don2d23
Helpful | Level 5
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I'm not seeing that the Help Center article you linked to has relevant information, but I'll read through it all again. If, in fact, Windows Explorer only allows a finite number of context menu items, is there a method (or a tutorial) to get rid of some of the other less important items in that list? If I can do that, maybe the DropBox icon will rear it's boxy blue head again.

😉 

Lusil
Dropbox Staff
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What I was referring to can be found at the very bottom of the article, @don2d23. However, for your convenience, I’ve included the steps below (referring to Windows, in this case). 
 
To find out how many overlays you have registered, you can check the registry:
    1. Press the Windows key + R and enter regedit.
    2. Navigate to the following registry key with this path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers     
    3. Scroll right for complete command line.
    4. If the Dropbox overlays are in the first 15 positions, they will display; otherwise you'll need to make room for them. Please note that this requires you to delete or deprioritize other applications' overlays, so only proceed if you’re sure about what you'll affect.
    5. If you decide to proceed, you can select individual keys and delete them by right-clicking on the desired key. If you don’t want to delete them, you can rename them and place a Z at the beginning to send them to the end of the alphabetically sorted list.
    6. Quit explorer.exe and launch again from the Task Manager, or restart your computer.
    7. Launch Dropbox, and the sync icons should re-appear.
 
I hope this helps. Give me a shout when you’ve got an update on this! :nerd:

Lusil
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


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don2d23
Helpful | Level 5
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I really do appreciate you taking the time to help with this, Lusil.

In this case, I follow the steps until I get to the points that confuse me ... first of all I don't get #3 (scroll to the right for complete command line). I'm not an expert at Regedit, but I don't see any scroller.

I double checked to assure I'm in the correct registry key path. I've edited the Registry before, but this one is blazing new territory for me.

I've included a screen shot of the Regedit window. Maybe I'm missing a step or not doing something correctly.

Can you take a look at this and let me know if this is what I'm supposed to see?

screencaptureRegedit.JPG

If this is the complete list of what's supposed to be in my context menu when I right click a file, then either I'm in the wrong part of Regedit or I'm missing quite a few of the items that should be there.

Otherwise, it looks to me that Dropbox is there multiple times and certainly within the first 15 positions, but then again I don't know if I'm even looking at the right thing here.

 

don2d23
Helpful | Level 5
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Another quick thought: Could Dropbox have a known conflict with another program that might be corrupting the context menu? For instance, I subscribe to the Adobe suite of software and they are constantly revising and changing their programs and this requires intermittant re-installs and updates. I'm not pointing the finger here, because I think Adobe software is top notch. But it could be any number of programs that might have a problem with Dropbox or vice versa. Is this a possibility?

Here's another screen shot of my "right click" list in case it helps:

 Screenshot 2018-07-19 19.54.59.png

Again: some of these items I did not see in that Regedit session, so it makes me feel I wasn't editing the registry quite right.

Lusil
Dropbox Staff
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Hey @don2d23, thanks for getting back to me on this and for providing the screenshots - much appreciated!
 
In order to continue troubleshooting for this, due to account-sensitive info that’s required so as to further investigate, I’d recommend moving this discussion to email. For this reason, I’ve gone ahead and sent you an email to the email address associated with your Forum profile. Could you please check your inbox for my latest message?
 
Cheers! :grin:

Lusil
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


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ndcast
New member | Level 2
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Hello, why don't you give the solution in here so everyone who has this problem can fix it? Best regards,
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