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Re: "Dropbox needs to change permissions" message on startup

"Dropbox needs to change permissions" message on startup

Rachel R.2
Helpful | Level 5
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Lately, every time I start my Mac (OS 10.14.6) I get a message that reads (in full): 

"Dropbox needs to change permissions for the Folder: /Users/[name]/Dropbox

Enter your password to allow this"

(I would attach a screenshot here but I can't figure out how.)

I enter the password and all is well, but it happens Every. Single. Time. I start my computer. After checking here for ideas, I checked for symlinks (there are none) and reinstalled Dropbox (so I am now running the latest version), but that has not helped at all. What now?

1 Accepted Solution

Accepted Solutions

Здравко
Legendary | Level 20
Go to solution

Hi @Rachel R.2,

Can you try following commands in terminal:

sudo chflags -R noschg "/Users/$USER/Dropbox"
sudo chflags -R nouchg "/Users/$USER/Dropbox"
sudo chown -R "$USER" "/Users/$USER/Dropbox"
chmod -R u+rw "/Users/$USER/Dropbox"

Will be asked for your password (sudo).

Hope this helps. :wink:

View solution in original post

58 Replies 58

Lusil
Dropbox Staff
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Hey there @Rachel R.2

Welcome to the Dropbox Community! Let's see what we can find here. 

As a first step, could you let me know if you get a hyperlink when you see the error message pop up? If you do, could you please click on it and post the log that you get?

Thanks in advance!


Lusil
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


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Rachel R.2
Helpful | Level 5
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Hi, Lusil! 

No, there is no link, just the location of my desktop Dropbox folder. If you tell me how to add a screenshot, I can do that.

Lusil
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution

If you can attach a screenshot in your reply, that would be very helpful! :grinning:

Thanks in advance, @Rachel R.2


Lusil
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, please give it a Like below.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Still stuck? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Tips & Tricks Find new ways to stay in flow or share your tips on how you work smarter with Dropbox.

Rachel R.2
Helpful | Level 5
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I would be happy to if you would tell me how to do that!

Rachel R.2
Helpful | Level 5
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Screen Shot 2019-10-07 at 8.43.15 AM.png

(If that worked, I figured it out. 🙂 )

Здравко
Legendary | Level 20
Go to solution

Hi @Rachel R.2,

Can you try following commands in terminal:

sudo chflags -R noschg "/Users/$USER/Dropbox"
sudo chflags -R nouchg "/Users/$USER/Dropbox"
sudo chown -R "$USER" "/Users/$USER/Dropbox"
chmod -R u+rw "/Users/$USER/Dropbox"

Will be asked for your password (sudo).

Hope this helps. :wink:

Rachel R.2
Helpful | Level 5
Go to solution

All at once or one at a time?

Здравко
Legendary | Level 20
Go to solution

Line by line. Every line is one command.

Rachel R.2
Helpful | Level 5
Go to solution

Done--and thank you! I restarted, and it didn't ask for my password, so hopefully the problem is now solved.

Need more support?