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Dropbox not working in MacOS High Sierra

Dropbox not working in MacOS High Sierra

wkyandy
Helpful | Level 6
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After updating to MacOS High Sierra 10.13, my dropbox on my Macbook Air start not syncing.  Then I tried to uninstall and then install the dropbox again.  However, when i press the dropbox icon after installation, it doesn't work at all and nothing happened.  I tried the above procedures for few times and still nothing come out though I successfully install it. The dropbox even not showing on the menu bar or in finder box.   

 

Any suggestions?  

47 Replies 47

superkari
New member | Level 2
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After updating to MacOS High Sierra 10.13, my dropbox on my iMAC (Late 2015) start not syncing. 

adbnnn
New member | Level 2
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Same problem.  2017 iMac, upgraded to High Sierra.  Get carious read/write errors in Word when trying to open dropbox folder and dropbox app won't launch.  High Sierra

wkyandy
Helpful | Level 6
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Hi, Sanchez,

 

Please see my replies at below:

1.  MacOS High Sierra

2. I tried to install the online version from www.dropbox.com and the offline version mentioned in www.dropbox.com FAQ.

3.  It seems to me the installation process has been completed.  But once completed, I tried to open the app by clicking the app.  However, no error message or resposnes from my Macbook Air.  It just stay there without any actions.

 

Hope the team may solve this issue soon.  Thanks.

Helahl
New member | Level 2
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I am having the same problem too!

jhiner
Helpful | Level 6
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Try this command in Terminal:

 

sudo update_dyld_shared_cache

 

Run it and restart.

 

It fixed the issue for me.

cgtripp
Helpful | Level 5
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This is the error message:

"You can’t use a name that begins with a dot “.”, because these names are reserved for the system. Please choose another name."

that's from the Macbook.  Dropbox says I have a problem with file permissions for Users/myname/.dropbox/logs, so why would the application create a file with a dot?

ladnermusic
New member | Level 2
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dropbox DOES NOT work with MacOS HIgh Sierra

cgtripp
Helpful | Level 5
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Is there a "High Sierra" OS?  My iMac is running macOS Sierra Version 10.12.6 and the Dropbox app is working fine here, but won't install on my MacBook, so no folders downloaded.  It's just me and my two computers so, no IT department to call.  This is the message I just sent to Support:  

I am reluctant to change system commands just for this one app.  Why name a file starting with a period when you know Apple is going to have a problem with it?  I just tried searching for any other folders on my hard drive on the iMac desktop (purchased 08/17) that might start that way and here is the message that I got:  <<Names that begin with a dot “.” are reserved for the system.  If you decide to go ahead and use a name which begins with a dot the file will be hidden.>>

It looks like you may have some files in your folder that have their permissions incorrectly set. You can fix that with the following steps:

1) Stop the Dropbox desktop application (if needed)

  • Click on the Dropbox icon.
  • Choose Quit/Stop/Exit

2) Open your Terminal app (Located at /Applications/Utilities/Terminal)

3) Copy and paste the following lines into the Terminal, one at a time, and press RETURN after each one. PLEASE make sure you copy and paste these commands (don't type them by hand), as getting them wrong could cause some harm. You'll be prompted for your computer user's password (not your Dropbox password) after entering the first command. Keep in mind that the password field in the terminal will remain blank as you type your password. After you type it, just press ENTER. You'll know that these instructions complete normally once the initial line of text (called prompt) comes up again:


sudo chflags -R nouchg ~/Dropbox ~/.dropbox

sudo chown "$USER" "$HOME"

sudo chown -R "$USER" ~/Dropbox ~/.dropbox

sudo chmod -RN ~/.dropbox ~/Dropbox

chmod -R u+rw ~/Dropbox ~/.dropbox

Please note that once the prompt displays, the instruction completed the requested task, and is ready for the next command. If the command returns an error, or does not respond after an hour, you may want to try restarting your computer and try these steps again.

If you have any questions before you do this, or if you see an error after running one of these commands, please let us know!

4) Restart Dropbox from Applications

Another possible cause of these issues would be local network sharing or folder redirection preferences setup in folders or files within your Dropbox. Similar effects can also happen when your Dropbox folder or its system files are located in a mounted network drive or a remote location (like roaming profiles) since this could cause Dropbox to not have constant access or permissions to operate in those locations. This is especially an issue if other people in the network could be accessing the same data. For these reasons, I'd suggest that you ensure that your setup does not include any of the above scenarios. You may need to reach out to IT if your computer is in a corporate environment to check any of them.

wkyandy
Helpful | Level 6
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Dear all,

 

Thank you so much for advice from all of you.  I have tried to type in commands in terminal and finally fixed the issue.  Really appreciate all your efforts to let me have the solution.  Now I can put my dropbox as one of the folders in sidebar and sync automatically.  

 

Again, thanks for your help.

 

Best regards,

 

Andy

Sanchez
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution
Hey @wkyandy, I’m glad to hear that you’ve worked this out! I’d like to thank @cgtripp and @jhiner for providing their solutions, as well as everyone else for their suggestion and comments about this. 

How has this gone for the rest of you? Did the solutions help? 

Have a great weekend, everyone :sunglasses:
 

Sanchez
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


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