Dropbox client doesn't start up

[JMLobert]

I just noticed that Dropbox isn't running and synchronizing. When I tried to start it manually, I get this error: "The application has failed to start because its side by side configuration is incorrect". This is Windows 10, latest updates. Dropbox worked a couple days ago, stopped for no apparent reason.

Thanks for any pointers.

[Daphne]

Hey there @JMLobert,

Would you be able to send me a screenshot of this error message (excluding any personal info)? Dropbox error messages should contain a blue hyperlink, if you see this please can you open the full error log and copy this into your reply?

Otherwise, can you try a quick uninstall of the Dropbox desktop app and then downloading and installing the app again to see if that helps.

Looking forward to hearing from you - Thanks!

[JMLobert · Accepted solution]

Thank you for the response. This was not a Dropbox error, but a Windows error and the text above is verbatim, nothing more to show for that.

I tried to uninstall Dropbox and to my surprise that uninstall failed! Not something that instills confidence.

I fixed the problem by simply re-installing it over the current installation, now it is working again, but this worries me, if the cloud service stops working, and refuses to cleanly uninstall.

[Daphne]

Hey again @JMLobert,

I’m glad to hear that the desktop app is back up and running for you! A possible reason for the uninstall failing would be that there were still some Dropbox processes running on your computer. There are a few other ways you can uninstall the desktop app if a simple uninstall didn’t work, which you can check out from here should you need/want to uninstall the app.

Regardless, feel free to let me know here if you experience any other issues with the desktop app as I’d be more than happy to help.

Have a great week ahead - Cheers! 

[Ibbuzz]

I have the same problem. I got the error message "The application has failed to start because its side by side configuration is incorrect".  I tried reinstalling, uninstalling, and then reinstalling with no success. it wouldn't let me uninstall or reinstall over it.

[Walter]

Hi @Ibbuzz; thanks for joining the discussion here and welcome to our Community!

In your case, I'd suggest a clean, advanced re-install by following the steps outlined in the Help Center article below: 

https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/desktop/advanced-reinstall

Let us know how it goes!