Ubuntu system tray icon disappeared, can't access preferences

[salamanderer]

I am running the deskop app on Ubuntu 18.04 and my system tray disappeared altogether.  Dropbox is still syncing -- new fils show up immediately -- but I need to update the sync location and I can't do that without the indicator icon.

Is there a way to access my preferences without the indicator icon?

[Pikamander2]

Hi Salamanderer,

It looks like this is a common issue in Ubuntu. Here are some other threads about it.

Can you please try some of the solutions in these threads and let us know which of them work, if any?

https://askubuntu.com/questions/732967/how-to-fix-non-working-dropbox-icon-on-xubuntu-14-04-lts-64

https://askubuntu.com/questions/182567/how-to-fix-missing-dropbox-tray-icon

https://askubuntu.com/questions/795857/how-to-fix-missing-dropbox-panel-icon-with-a-startup-script

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Installation-and-desktop-app/Dropbox-menu-disappeared-on-Ubuntu-16-1...

https://superuser.com/questions/1037769/dropbox-system-tray-icon-missing-not-working

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2354444

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2364904

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2256902

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2226604

https://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=2225969

https://itsfoss.com/solve-dropbox-icon-ubuntu-1310/

https://beamtic.com/dropbox-icon-missing-from-tray-ubuntu

http://www.webupd8.org/2016/06/fix-dropbox-indicator-icon-and-menu-not.html

[salamanderer · Accepted solution]

I wound up running software updates and going to bed and the tray did indeed reappear.

[IamR3m]

No one solution described above can't help me. On my PC running Ubuntu 14.04 Unity and on laptop running 16.04 Unity. And on both at some time icon dissapears. dropboxd is running, but no icon in tray.

[salamanderer]

I'm trying to resolve two separate computers, and on one, just running system updates worked. On the other I still can't get the system indicator to appear.

I tried `dropbox stop && dbus-launch dropbox start` which did indeed stop and relaunch it, but did not make the tray icon appear.

`dropbox stop` followed by `.dropbox-dist/dropboxd` also stopped and restarted Dropbox but still no indicator.

`dropbox stop && DBUS_SESSION_BUS_ADDRESS=""` dropbox start worked great, too. It stopped it and restarted it but ... no indicator.

It's running and syncing just fine, but I need to move the sync location, which I can't do without an indicator.