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Windows 10 Protected Folder Access

Hi, i have dropbox installed and have noticed i have recently started seeing Windows 10 Protected Folder Access Blocked alerts for Dropbox.exe tryign to access the Music and Documnets folders in my profile even though i have not setup these fodlers for synicng and do not have the Backups feature enabled? Could someone advise why dropbox is trying to access these folders and how to stop? Thanks

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Daphne

Hi @stlouey, I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble with this!

Did you have the computer backup enabled previously on your computer, for the Music and Documents folders?

If so, can you let me know if you followed the steps at the bottom of this article to disable the backup?

Let me know and we'll go from there!

stlouey

Hi Daphne,

I dont see the steps at the bottom of the article?

Coul you please advise?

Thanks

Walter

The Help Center article Daphne mentioned is this one @stlouey,

Did you have the chance to have a look there?

stlouey

Hi Walter,

Yes i did check this before reaching out to the community.

I had this issue before even knowing about the feature. Doign my research i found an article where someone said you might have this enabled check. On checking i enabled it as its not a very intuative interface. I then followed the article to disable. I still get the warnings regarless.

Just to also mention i am in I.T for over 20 years so if there is any other higher level troubleshooting i can do please advise.

Thanks again

Walter

I see; thanks for the additional information @stlouey.

Could you please send us a screenshot of how this looks like on your end so that we can have a visual too?

Aidski

Go to windows security, Virus protection and then Protection History.

I get the message that my administrator (LOL) has blocked this action:

App or process blocked: Dropbox.exe

Protected folder: %userprofile%\Documents

Blocked by: Controlled folder access

You can access the Controlled Folder settings from Protection History (the main settings are in Ransomware protection) then and add dropbox which will stop the notification but I don't think it answers your original question - why would dropbox be poking around in Documents if that is not a folder in your dropbox.

stlouey

Hi Walter,

Could you please advise which screenshots you are after? The Windows protection alerts or the configuration of Dropbox Backups? Thanks

stlouey

Hi Aidski,

What you are suggesting is something i did consider but you are correct in that it should NOT be doing that unless i have configured Dropbox to access these folder. Adding to bypass the alert is not the solution but i do appreciate you reading my post and taking the time to provide help. Thanks

Walter

Both would help @stlouey!

stlouey

Walter

Thanks for the screenshots @stlouey; much appreciated!

Did you install the desktop app with admin privileges?

Aidski

From my side, I did.

I think this happened a while ago when there was a windows update but I could not say which one.

stlouey

Hi Walter,

As in right click the .exe installer and select "Run As Administrator"? Probably not because my user account is a member of Local Admin and you dont normally need to do this.

Thanks

Stephen

Walter

Thanks for clarifying that for me, Stephen.

May I reach out via email to investigate a bit further?

Aidski

Walter,

Please update this thread when you find something interesting.

Thanks

Walter

I appreciate the nudge on this @Aidski.

If you're still having issues with this, can I contact you via email to look into this together?

stlouey

Hi Walter,

Yes you can reach out via as i woud like this resolved as soon as possible please.

Walter

Sure thing @stlouey; you've got :envelope:

stlouey

Hi Walter,

Just advising that i can see a ticket ending in 49 in my account but there is no option to do anything with it. The support pages say that i should be able to click on it and post a reply but if i click it the screen goes back to the minimized ticket history with the view option?

Walter

Have you tried replying through your email directly instead @stlouey?

brendanr

I am having this issue too, with all of our managed Windows devices. We have backups disabled in Dropbox, and Folder Protection enabled in Microsoft Endpoint Manager. Users constantly receive protected folder access blocked notifications. Dropbox is attempting to access %userprofile%\Music repeatedly.

Microsoft Endpoint Manager | Folder Protection Enabled

Microsoft Endpoint Manager

Windows Defender Log | Dropbox Blocked Example

Windows Defender Protected Folder Error

Dropbox | Backups Disabled

Dropbox Admin Center - Backup Disabled

Walter

Hey @brendanr, sorry for the late response.

If you're still having issues with this, may we reach out via email to investigate further?

brankogrbac

What is the status of this ticket? When can we expect it to be resolved?

My protection history is filled with these messages of Dropbox attempting to access %userprofile%\Music but backup is not enabled on any of the folders.

It may be useful to note that this usually happens when I create a screenshot in Windows with Win + Shift + S. it happened twice while I was making the photos for this report. How is this even related?

Screenshot 2023-07-16 162133.png Screenshot 2023-07-16 162056.png

Nancy

@brankogrbac, are you, by any chance, saving your screenshots automatically to Dropbox?

If you're not sure, you can also take a look here.

brankogrbac

No, I am not saving my screenshots automatically to Dropbox.

Nancy

Let's check something else then; can you please visit this page, and let me know if you see any active backups there?

brankogrbac

Zero backups listed. I have the option to setup backup.

Walter

Hey @brankogrbac, sorry to jump in and thanks for your patience while we checked on this internally with the team.

So, this is expected to some extent as the desktop app itself integrates with your computer's file-system to give you Dropbox tools (right click options), even outside your Dropbox folder on Windows, but unless you take specific steps to configure them for sync, only the content in your Dropbox folder is syncing up or down.

In general we'd recommend whitelisting the Dropbox.exe application itself in your anti-virus/security software to avoid these kinds of issues, as well as potential interruptions to sync.

Let me know if this helps.