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Lost Finder Integration in OS X 10.11 (El Capitan)

Hi,

since a few days it seems that I have lost the Finder-Integration in OS X 10.11.

Synchronization works fine, but I'm missing the Dropbox-Icon (in the sidebar the folder looks like a regular folder) and there is no status icon next to the files either (if the file is being synced, etc).

On my wifes computer (running 10.11) as well all works fine - I'm wondering if this has to do because I have the Pro-Account?!?!

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Accepted answers

JoeT

I had the same issue and was able to get overlay icons back using by doing this:

Completely uninstall Dropbox. I used Clean My Mac but you can do it manually using these instructions https://www.dropbox.com/en/help/41 Do everything in the 'For Advanced users' section.
Do not move Dropbox folder to the trash
Download and install latest version of Dropbox
Re-login to Dropbox and if you had only certain folders selected to sync redo your Selective Sync settings.
Save settings
Relaunch Finder Option+Right Click Finder icon in Dock > Relaunch

Hope that helps.

All comments

A M.11

Same problem here......

Albert D.4

Hi A M. - are you Dropbox Pro user as well?

Tim W.45

Same here, not a Pro user.

Robert S.

A quick reinstall will usually fix most issues.

If the Dropbox folder isn't visible in the Finder sidebar, it can be returned just by dragging it there.

https://youtu.be/Kwl3SePQe0g

https://support.apple.com/kb/PH19079?locale=en_US

Albert D.4

@Robert S. - I tried to re-install - same situation...

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Robert S.

Ok, in your Dropbox client preferences locate the 'Unlink This Dropbox...' button. Press and hold the Option key and it will change into a 'Fix Permissions' button for you to click.

> Did this resolve the issue?

Jianping H.

Same problem.

Found it by clicking the folder icon at top left corner.

>

Albert D.4

Hi Robert S.!

This was very promising, but no - it did not fix my problem.
I also repaired permissions from Mac and made a reboot - same situation.

What is funny - I have another iMac where I have the exact same issue (also OS X 10.11)

KR
Albert

Roberto G.6

I was able to recover Dropbox integration by disabling csrutil

Boot your Mac with Command-R held to load Recovery mode.
Open the Terminal from the Utilities menu.
Run the following command, followed by restarting your Mac: csrutil disable

Albert D.4

Hi Roberto!

I can confirm that this solved the issue - I had to disable the system integrity protection (csrutil disable) and after a reboot it was necessary to fix the permissions (as explained from you above).

Since I did not like the csrutil to remain turned off I rebooted the machine again and re-enabled it.

Thank you!

Albert

Edit: it started to work again - even after the csrutil enable command (it took some time after reboot) I see the finder integration working as normal!!!

Roberto G.6

Hi Albert D.

It's great to know this worked for you, this is my first contribution to this forum.

Cheers.

Dmitry M.1

Thank you, guys, I could not solve this problem 3 months!

Chelsea H.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Roberto G.!! It worked!!

Robert S.

Ok, I'll just chip in at this point to ensure anybody reading this topic fully understands the ramifications of disabling System Integrity Protection.

SIP is an important new layer of protection introduced in El Capitan designed to prevent any potentially malicious software from modifying protected system files and folders.

As such, it really isn't something that should be left turned off, so make sure to re-enable it when you've done.

Curtis R.3

For me the fix was to go to Dropbox Preferences > General > uncheck Enable Finder integration, then recheck it again.

Then go to Dropbox Preferences> Account > option click Unlink This Dropbox to say fix permissions. Fix permissions.

Finder integration is now working again in El Capitan.11.11.1

LA M.1

Curtis's fix did it for me! Thanks! How frustrating!

Tim M.15

Curtis, I followed your steps and saw the green checkmarks - huzzah!

Only problem, it didn't last. As I watch my Public folder, the green checkmarks appear then disappear a second later. On and off, repeatedly. I can't right-click fast enough to get a sharing link.

Still broken for me, worse the small top menu drop-down only shows the last few files. I have have hundreds that I can't get links for currently, and the web view of won't let me sort newest to oldest.

Jamie S.3

This is clearly a serious issue to do with El Capitan since it has just happened to me out of the blue also. Tried all of the above solutions and nothing worked for me so far. Is anybody from Dropbox looking into this?

The finder integration is not there in the activity monitor on my mac which means that that must have something to do with it. No matter how many times I quit dropbox, trash it, download it again, unlink it, fix permissions, nothing works.

Andrew L.28

I had success with a combination of Robert S and G's instructions.

I never had any issues with folders been displayed in the sidebar just the right menu share link etc for both box and dropbox.

1. Tried disabling finder integration.. then unlinking/relinking account - NO GO

2. Disabled SIP in recovery mode then rebooted. All good. Menu items restored and working for both box and dropbox.

3. Enabled SIP again and rebooted - Box right click menus were still there on reboot, dropbox links disappeared again.

4. Disabled integration, unlinked account.. relinked account AGAIN with SIP still enabled and dropbox right click menu links working again. ??

There is also this I found on http://www.trankynam.com/xtrafinder/sip.html

How to partially disable System Integrity Protection

Refer this Apple's article .

Follow these steps:

1. Boot to Recovery OS by restarting your machine and holding down the Command and R keys at startup.
2. Launch Terminal from the Utilities menu.
3. Enter the following command: csrutil enable --without debug
Reboot your computer.

Maria C.10

Curtis R. Thank you. Worked perfectly!

Charles C.31

El Capitan appears to have created a copy of the original Dropbox folder, /user/Documents/Dropbox, into /user/Dropbox. Only the second one is synced.

The Dropbox folder that I dragged into my sidebar was the old one, so this is why I wasn't able to see documents added on other devices.

You can tell which copy is live because it has the green check mark in Finder.

jason b.53

The following worked for me on OS X:

-Click on the Dropbox icon from your Desktop and quit the application
-Open your Activity Monitor from your Mac Utilities folder
-Force quit out of the instances of the Dropbox application that are running by searching for "Dropbox" in the search bar, then clicking on the "x" force quit icon on the top left
-Re-start Dropbox from the applications folder by double clicking on the Dropbox application
-Click on the Apple icon in the top left of your screen
-Click on "force quit"
-Relaunch the finder

(instructions were provided by Dropbox Support)

Dana K.

Simply restarting the Finder did it for me.

Paul B.97

Hi All,

I had been having exactly the same problem, I lost all contextual menus and ticks in the finder windows and I am running 10.11.1, and it has only been since this system update.

Despite various support requests from Dropbox, nothing they suggested worked, until I tried the above csrutil disable trick (which I found here) and it worked, I have all contextual menu and ticks back.

Thank you!

Alex I.11

jason b

thanks a lot!
that worked for me wonderfully – surprisingly restarting the finder did the trick

John B.171

Nope. Nothing here has worked for me. Was working previously but a few days ago, there is no longer a Dropbox Finder Integration process, no matter how many times I kill dropbox, finder and restart in any order.

OSX 10.11.1 and 10.11.2

John B.171

I also completely removed dropbox app, unlinked the computer and then removed all the ~/.dropbox files (preferences) too. Restarted and then re-installed dropbox from scratch -- nothing. The Finder integration doesn't want to start.

This is only on my Macbook pro Retina (late 2013), because on my Mac Mini with the same version of OS, it works fine.

Here is a screenshot.

> <img id=

Miguel M.14

Happens the same in Mac27, but not in my MCB, with the same El Capitan version.

Tried with SIP as mentioned before, but didn't work.

Unlinking, Linking, uninstalling completely, installing again, and nothing.

Any suggestion?

Thanks a lot.

Robert C.89

MBPro15 Late2015 OSX10.11.2 - no little green circles w checks no blue circles with arrows

> As with John B (above) Dropbox working fine on my mac mini and iMac, both running OSX version 10.11.2

julie m.32

same issues on mac pro though macbook air is fine. attempted everything above except for the

csrutil

terminal command, still no dice on the finder integration. running el capitan.

is disabling SIP really the only option to have dropbox finder integration {eg. no status circles, no share link / folder functionality on desktop}