Can't remove Dropbox icon from Mac OS Dock

[pollycat]

On the Mac, in the past, I've liked just having a small discrete Dropbox icon on my menu bar to monitor things and then accessed my files from the Finder.

After a recent update to the "new" Dropbox, the Dropbox application itself now opens itself and slaps a big Dropbox icon in my Dock which I don't want there.

Trouble is, if I select to not open Dropbox on login, then the menu bar icon also doesn't appear and syncing doesn't take place at all.

How do I stop the Dock icon appearing on startup?

Thanks!

[Jane]

Hey @pollycat, while it would be worth noting that all active programs will appear on the Dock while they are open, kindly note that it will not be possible to remove it from there without removing the app altogether. From there, I’ve already made sure to note your thoughts in my report internally, since this would be some great feedback for our team devs. 

Please feel free to ping me back in case you have any further observations or inquiries in the future & it’ll be a pleasure to work with you again. Thanks! 

[pollycat]

The old Dropbox didn’t behave like this.  I could set it to open at login and I would only get the small menu bar icon, no Dock icon.

The behaviour I’m describing only occurs with the recent re-designed update.

I’m asking for the previous capability to be restored.

I don’t need to use the new fancy Finder duplicate that now insists on opening every time my computer starts.

[pollycat]

Thanks for your response.

”all active programs will appear on the Dock while they are open”

As I mentioned above, this was not the case before the new redesign.

In the past, I could set Dropbox to open only in the menu bar and not in the Dock.

Now I can’t.

So, something has changed, and useful functionality (to me) has been removed.

Note: if I quit / close the Dropbox icon on the Dock after it appears there, Dropbox continues to run in the background and on the menu bar as before.  I’d just prefer the previous behaviour of the Dropbox icon not opening in the Dock in the first place,

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[Gregg S.3]

I'm running macOS Mojave 10.14.5. I don't like the new Desktop app. I prefer working in the Finder, as I have for years. I can tell the app not to load on startup, but will that prevent syncing?

I understand why you've made the move to a Desktop app, but for me, it's counterproductive.

Thanks for listening, and for helping me get back to the efficient workflow that I've used for years and years.

[colinhoernig]

I am having the same issue.  With the recent redesign, the Dropbox icon in the MacOS dock keeps reappearing, and it provides no extra value.  I would prefer to be able to have a menubar only Dropbox running, and be able to hide the dock icon.

[Daphne]

Hey there @Gregg S.3,

You’re right there, if you prevent the app from opening on start up then syncing will not occur until you launch the app manually.

What I can suggest is to change the default for the app to the Dropbox folder in the Finder window. To do this, please follow the steps below:

1. Click the Dropbox icon in your menu bar. 
2. Click your profile picture or initials in the top right of the small window.
3. Click Preferences….
4. From the General tab, for the option “Open folders in”, choose Finder.

Now when you click on the Dropbox icon in the menu bar and then click the folder icon from the top of the window, the Dropbox folder in the Finder window will open instead of the new interface.

Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions - Cheers!

[Gregg S.3]

Thanks for your quick reply, Daphne. I've already done this, but the app still loads on startup.

It's not that I want a Finder window instead of the app interface.

I don't want the app to run at all.

I want the syncing service to run, but I don't want the app, even if it's hidden.

[Daphne]

Hey again @Gregg S.3, thanks for that clarification.

The syncing feature is part of the app itself and so can’t be run separately. There wouldn’t be much I could suggest here unless you wanted to control when the app was to start up. 

For example, if you don’t want the app to start on system start up, then you can turn this off from your desktop app settings. When you want to app to sync your account, you can launch it from your Applications menu.

I understand this isn't exactly what you wanted to achieve but I hope this helps to clarify the matter. 

Let me know if you have any other questions - Thanks!

[Gregg S.3]

Thanks for the info, Daphne.

Would you mind telling me why Dropbox thinks it's better to require (or at least encourage) users to go to a separate app instead of using the Finder integration we've always used in the past?

As I recall, "It's just a folder in the Finder, so you'll have a seamless experience with minimum hassle" was originally a big selling point.

So I'm curious as to why the change in philosophy.