Dropbox causes Mac to freeze on startup

[swj500]

Every time I start up my Mac, or log in to my user profile, it takes me 10 minutes before I can use the computer. As Dropbox app starts, it freezes everything. The mouse does not even move. Once it reaches the point of 'syncing' (which takes nearly 10 minutes) I can 'pause sync' to speed things up again, but I cannot even do that at the start. Looking at this community I see that this is a common problem and I would like to know if there is now a solution? It seems that they are simply incompatible and that is a shame - I have a paid-for Dropbox account that I have had for years and I now feel I probably need to get rid of it since it is making my computer stop working.

[Lusil]

Hey there @swj500, thanks for checking in with us. 

As a first step, could you have a look at this article which has a few reasons and ways to tackle high CPU/RAM usage? Maybe one of them will do the trick. 

Let me know how it goes, cheers!

[swj500]

Hi

I had seen this article before in other threads on this site. No, nothing here is helpful. I have everything installed on selective sync so it should not be the numbers of files. It does not happen with my laptop (running Windows), just with my Mac.

[Lusil]

Thanks for getting back to me, @swj500. 

Have you also tried the following steps in the exact order listed? Maybe they will do the trick:

• Click on the Dropbox icon in your menu bar.
• Go to the gear in the Notifications panel.
• Select Preferences...
• Navigate to the Account tab.
• Click anywhere in the window under the tab.
• Hold down the Option/Alt key.
• Click on the Fix Hardlinks button (make sure you're still holding down the Option/Alt key).
• You may be asked for your computer's login credentials, in which case, please enter them.

Wait a bit to see if Dropbox resumes syncing and, if you're still having trouble, repeat steps 1-6, but at step 7, click on Fix Permissions, instead. 

Let me know how it goes, cheers!

[swj500]

Hello

I did these things but it has made no difference. There is a period of nearly 10 minutes after the Drobox icon first appears in the system tray, when the whole computer freezes up. If you hover over the icon it just says 'starting'. After about 10 minutes it moves to 'syncing', which is quick because I use it every day. At that point you can pause it if necessary, but during the 'starting' period there is nothing that can be done at all.

I think I may just need to remove Dropbox.

[Lusil]

Thanks for the additional information, @swj500. 

Out of curiosity, are you running the latest stable version of the desktop app (101.4.434)? 

Could you also check how many files you have syncing in your Dropbox folder?