Child Item

I can't access some folders after installing the app

Hi, I purchased a MacBook Pro, running Ventura 13.5. I installed Dropbox so I could access my existing files. After the install, I can only accesses a small portion of my files (they seem to be the ones saved to Dropbox, not one of the included sub files). Major file folders (Documents, Photos) are in Dropbox sub files, but not accessed. Any ideas on how I can get full access?

Find more posts tagged with

Desktop

Sync

Insightful

Closed - Partially Delivered

Accepted answers

All comments

Jay

Hi @CrewSandy1, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Could you clarify exactly what you're seeing in the Dropbox folder?

Is it only those two folders that can't be accessed?

This will help me to assist further!

CrewSandy1

Jay,

Thanks for getting involved in solving my problem. My terminology is probably incorrect, but I think Dropbox can collect saved files directly at Dropbox. In addition, I can set up sub folders under Dropbox into which I can save files. In my case, my pincipal subfolders are Documents and Photos. My current situation is that the main Dropbox location opens properly along with all the files saved at that location, but my sub files of Documents and Photos are absent. Strangely, a couple of minor subfiles under Dropbox appear and seem to operate properly. But the ones where I have all my important stuff are missing. On other of our computers, this porblem does not exist, so it is isolated to this specific machine.

Many thanks for the help,

AABlanchard

Jay

I'm still not sure what you're referring to exactly. Do you mean to say that certain folders are in the Dropbox folder, when they shouldn't be there?

Do you have Dropbox Backup enabled, which moves the Desktop , Documents and Downloads folders into your Dropbox folder?

CrewSandy1

Jay,

I just reinstalled Dropbox to see if that would fix the problem; it didn't, and my invisible files are still invisible. When I click on Dropbox in the Finder, I am shown the dozen or so individual files saved directly to Dropbox, plus two "subfiles" beneath/within Dropbox. But the Documents and Photos subfiles that I know also exist remain invisible.

Does this help?

Many thanks,

AABlanchard

Hannah

Hey @CrewSandy1, sorry to jump in here, but could you send us a screenshot of how the Dropbox folder appears on the new computer and another screenshot of the Dropbox folder on one of the other computers, for comparison?

CrewSandy1

Hannah,

I'm attaching the two screenshots. The one labelled "Screenshot 2023-08-23 at 3:01" is from the Mac. It shows the abreviated list of my Dropbox contents, especially missing the Documents and Photos files. The one labelled "DropBox Shot (1).png" is from our other computer, and does show the important files missing from the first shot.

Thank you for trying to unwind this for me!

AABlanchard

Walter

Hey @CrewSandy1 - sorry to jump in here.

Unfortunately, your screenshots didn't make it to us - could you try again using the camera icon from your reply's box?

CrewSandy1

I realized my error while I was watching the "debate" tonight. Glad you also caught it. Here are the screen shots:

DropBox Shot.png

DropBox Shot (1).png

Best regards and thanks,

AABlanchard

Hannah

Hey @CrewSandy1, thanks for this!

It seems, however, that we can see the same screenshot from a Windows computer twice, would you mind sending one from the Mac computer?

CrewSandy1

No, Hanna, that was not a test to see if you were paying attention. My mistake.

Here's the Mac shot

Mac Shot.png

Many thanks,

AABlanchard

Jay

Thanks for the screenshot. This looks like a completely different Dropbox account.

Are you certain that the Dropbox desktop application is signed into the exact same email address? Do you see both devices connected to your account on this page?

CrewSandy1

Hi,

This is very curious. The listing of devices you show me appears to be from my MAC, which I am currently using. This is the "Screenshot 2023-08-23" image I sent you. It is the only MAC we have, and was recently purchased to replace an earlier MAC. The other devices listed are seldom used, so I can't really remember how they display DropBox.

Our ACER/PC running Windows is not on your list. That is the "Dropbox Shot" image I sent. That computer, and its version of DropBox is the desired one, as it includes all our files (absent from the MAC version).

A possible source of conflict may be related to our email account. We use G-Mail, and our "real" address is [Removed as per Community Guidelines]. However, in order to make it simple to change email addresses in the future, we use a "pointer" service offered by my old college; we have people write to us at [Removed as per Community Guidelines] and MIT then sends that message to us at [Removed as per Community Guidelines]. The MIT address willnever change, but we can change the gmail account to something else at will.

Is it possible to merge what appear to be two individual DropBox accounts? Or can I just abandon the version on my MAC and somehow find out how to access the version found on our PC?

Many thanks,

AABlanchard

Jay

Most likely you have an account at the Gmail address, and another at the MIT email address.

Could you try logging into the Dropbox site using the other email to see if the files are visible there, and that other device?

Currently, there isn't any method to merge account, aside from using shared folders to transfer files from one to another.

CrewSandy1

Jay,

Great idea. But I don't know how to log onto Dropbox; when I click my Dropbox desktop icon, I'm given my Finder screen with Dropbox highlighted and all its contents listed. How do I get to the actual Dropbox?

Best,

AABlanchard

Jay

Use your browser with an incognito/private browsing window, and access this page, then login with the other email address.

If you don't know what password it could be, try resetting it.

CrewSandy1

Jay,

I've logged in to Dropbox using both email addresses, and both lead me to the same file set that is incomplete. So my problem must not be related to email addresses. That seemed like a plausible solution; sorry it didn't work

AABlanchard

Jay

On the Windows machine, when you click the Dropbox desktop application icon in the system tray, are you able to see the account email from within the preferences?

CrewSandy1

Jay,

Yes, the Dropbox icon on my PC is linked to the [Removed as per Community Guidelines] email address - same as on the MAC. Is there any way I can link these two accounts (if that is what they are)? Is it feasible for me to scrub all Dropbox accounts from all computers and just start over again - without loosing my historic files? If I start over, which type of Dropbox account should I be using?

It's probably time to quit this mess for the week. Please accept my appreciation for helping out. And have a good weekend.

AABlanchard

Jay

It isn't possible for two separate Dropbox accounts to have the same email. Either one of them has a minor typo in it, or the email was changed but not reflected on the machine.

When you click the Dropbox icon in the system tray on the Windows machine, what message is written on the bottom left?

CrewSandy1

Jay,

It says "your files are up to date"

AABlanchard

CrewSandy1

Jay,

Thanks for your efforts on my behalf. You pointed me in the right direction, and I think I've now got things figured out. My "bad" dropbox is associated with my gmail email, and my "good" dropbox is associated with my MIT.edu email. Quite frankly, I had trouble finding out how to get these details on each of the Dropbox accounts, but spent time this weekend figuring out how to get to that info. I am sorry it took me so long - you have been very patient!

One last question: Please confirm that the easiest way to fix this is to scrub the "bad" account entirely from my computer (and Dashlane log in) and just reinstall a new account directly from Dropbox - with the correct email address. The few files of interest in the "bad" account can be saved elsewhere before the scrub, then placed in their proper location in the new account. Make sense?

Thank you again for all the support you have proviede. It is greatly appreciated.

AABlanchard

Jay

Yes, you can sign out of the Gmail account in the Dropbox desktop application, and the Dropbox site, after first downloading all the files in it onto your machine.

If you wish, you can even delete the account entirely from the site, which will permanently delete the data on that account. If you do choose to do that, just be certain you're signed into the account you want to delete, since this process is irreversible, and the account can't be recovered afterwards by any method.