Shared folders not showing shared folder icon on new Mac.

[johnhalldesign]

I just added a new Mac to my account, and synced all my Dropbox folders to it, but all have the same plain blue folder icon, whether they shared folders of not.  On my other computers, the shared folders have the two people icon.  Why would this be happeneing, and how can I cet them to show the correct icon?

[Jay]

Hi John, could you check that these are definitely shared folders?

Additionally, you might need to have the Dropbox desktop application running in order to see the shared folder icon, since it relies on the connection to the servers to confirm it’s a shared folder.

The Mac icon for shared folders is actually with 3 people on it, like so:

 

[johnhalldesign]

Yes they are definitely shared folders.  I have at least 10 folders that were shared by or with clients.  On my new mac those folders now look exactly like the other folders that are just regular Dropbox folders. Dropbox App is running.  Same folders on my other computer has the 3 people icon.  Its a new retina Macbook Pro, so not sure if that could have something to with it.

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@Jay wrote:

Hi John, could you check that these are definitely shared folders?

Additionally, you might need to have the Dropbox desktop application running in order to see the shared folder icon, since it relies on the connection to the servers to confirm it’s a shared folder.

The Mac icon for shared folders is actually with 3 people on it, like so:

 

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[johnhalldesign]

So I just tried creating a new shared folder on this computer and it made one with the correct icon for that.  But all the older ones just show plain blue folders.

[Jay]

Could you try right clicking on the folders to see the sharing options with Dropbox, and if the folders show the members the folders are shared to?

If there are no members, it’s possible that these aren’t shared folders.

[johnhalldesign]

Here's a visual.  Left is how my Dropbox folder looks on my old Mac Pro.  Right is on my new Macbook Pro.  Both running the latest version of High Sierra. A little hard to see, but the only folder showing as shared on the new Mac is the one I newly created last night.

[johnhalldesign]

OK Here's something ever weirder I just noticed.  Inside every shared folder on the new Mac is a Zero byte file titled "icon?" That is not showing on my old Mac.  Seems there must be some incompatibility with this new MacBook Pro in showing the correct icons.

[Jay]

It’s possible that not all permissions were allowed for the Dropbox desktop application. 

Could you try doing an advanced reinstall to see if this fixes the folder icons on the new MacBook?

[johnhalldesign]

Kind of leary to start messing with terminal commands on a brand new computer.  May just deal with it as it is, unless I encounter other problems, since it appears to be working OK otherwise.

[Jay]

That’s understandable, let me know if you experience any issues in the future!