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The Dropbox desktop application can't be opened on Mac OS, why?

I have a Mac desktop and have been using a basic Dropbox account for a number of years on this as well as an iPad and iPhone. Because of an issue with the OS, we had to wipe the hard drive clean and basically start from scratch. I did have an external hard drive and also used the cloud. My problem is that when I click on the Dropbox App I get a message from Finder saying Dropbox can't be opened.

I have tried deleting the App and downloading the App new, however Dropbox always takes me to the online application, which I do not want to use. I have tried using an incognito window to download the App and it requires that I sign in and I am not finding a way to download the Aoo. I went to the Apple store and it just shows third party Apps.

I would appreciate any suggestions from the community!

Thank you!

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Jay

Hi @TE16, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

How many devices do you currently have connected to your account according to this page?

What happens when you download the offline version of the Dropbox desktop application?

This will help me to assist further!

TE16

Hi Jay ~

Thank you for responding!

I have Dropbox offline version on my iPhone, on an iPad and I used to have it on the Mac computer I am in the process of trying to get an offline Dropbox App downloaded on. I just am not able to download the offline icon to use on my desktop.

Although I have a an icon on my desktop currently however when I click on it, I get a message from Finder that "Dropbox can't be opened."

Any recommendations on how I can accomplish this, I would appreciate it greatly!

Thank you!

Jay

Thanks for the info, could you try an advanced reinstall of the app using the steps in this link?

TE16

Hi Jay ~

I did the advance re-install for a Mac and although it was successful, in the profile it is using an email address that I do not use for this account. I have not been able to figure out how to change the profile email address.

I have had this experience before when trying to re-install the App/icon on my desktop without luck. I did try to find something in through search and did not find anthing that helped.

If you have a suggestion, I would appreciate it.

Thank you!

Toni

Hannah

Hey @TE16, I hope you don't mind me jumping in here!

Just to clarify, do you wish to change the email address of the account that is linked to your computer, or sign in to an entirely different Dropbox account on the app?

TE16

I have an account that is under a Comcast email address. This account has all of my "stuff" in it. The account that keeps populating, that I never intentionally set up or are paying for (hopefully) is under a Gmail email address and has nothing in it.

I believe what may have happened is that when I tried to sign into the account, I used the option to sign in through Google and didn't realize that it would create this issue.

Thanks Hannah!

Nancy

@TE16, in order to sign in to the correct Dropbox account on the desktop app you’ll need to log out and then back in with these steps.

TE16

Hi Nancy ~

I followed the steps for logging out and it removed the icon from my desktop. I then followed the link to download the App for my desktop and it automatically puts me into the Gmail address email without an ability to change it.

Any help so that I am not doing the same thing over and over would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Megan

Hey @TE16, I hope you're doing well!

Would you mind trying once again, to see if the same thing happens then? I'm asking because the behavior you described sounds rather odd.

If you notice that it removed your icon from your device, let me know.

TE16

Thanks Megan!

I actually have tried it several times with the same response. I got to a place at one point where I was in the right account, however it did not accept me signing in; it said I needed to sign in on the "Team Account" - I do not have a team account.

Right now I am trying to delete the account that I never set up and it is requiring that I set up a password in order to delete it.

I have used my Dropbox account for years and value it very much. This has been incredibly frustrating; seems like there should be an easier solution than setting up and account in order to delete it.

Thanks for trying.

Megan

I see, @TE16.

Can you take a look at your account's connected devices and let me know how many you've currently connected to your account?

Do you have more than 3, which is the device limit for our Basic plan?

As for deleting your account, would you mind clarifying the exact error, please?

TE16

Hi Megan ~

It keeps saying two other devices which would be an iphone and ipad.

I am not sure what you mean by exact error. The issue when I try to download the App is that it defaults to a Gmail email account that I never set up. I am unable to change it to the email my account is under which is a Comcast email account. The one time I was able to get it to a sign in for the Comcast email account it says "Sign in to a team account" in a little red box at the top of the page. I do not have a team account.

Megan

Hey @TE16, would you mind sending over a screenshot of the exact error you're getting on your end about Dropbox not being able to be opened?

Also, are you logged into the correct Dropbox account when you visit your account online, when you re-install the app?

You should be able to see this by checking your General tab here.

TE16

I could not get a screen shot because as soon as I hit Command/Shift/4 it disappears. I have taken a photo.

Megan

Thanks for the screenshot @TE16!

So, just a little recap to make sure we're on the same page: in regards to the Comcast Dropbox account, it seems you're not able to sign in neither through the app, nor the website, right?

You're connected both online, and on the app using your Gmail Dropbox account, is that correct?

TE16

Thanks for your help Megan!

First of all; I don't have a gmail account on Dropbox. I have never signed up for one. What I have said previously in the chain is that once I signed up through Google and I believe that is what has the system believing that I have a gmail account on Dropbox. Before this, I had no problem getting with my Comcast account. I can't sign in the gmail account on Dropbox because I never set one up and did not set up a password.

Megan

Keep in mind that you're currently signed into our Community using a gmail account @TE16.

Which means that there's a Gmail linked Dropbox account. You can see the email here.

TE16

I understand that Dropbox thinks there is an account in my gmail address. I have never set one up for my gmail address. There is no password and there is nothing in the account from what I can see.

Again, I believe that Dropbox thinks I have an account because I made the mistake of trying to sign in when I was trying to set up my computer last week with Google. In order to sign in via Google, it means I sign in with my gmail address.

As much as I appreciate the help, I feel that I am going in circles and nothing is being accomplished. I sincerely need help to get this up and running. If not, I will download the information on there and move it to my computer which I prefer not to do.

I would appreciate any help that I can get.

Thanks

TE16

I have not heard from anyone today about the issue I am experiencing. This is an ongoing issue since July 4, 2023. I appreciate various people stepping in to try to help however so far there is no workable solution or an article that deals with the problem I am having. Is there someone who is willing to help? Is there a phone number I can call to work through the issue? I have updates I need to do through my computer that I am unable to do on my mobile devices and need help as soon as possible.

Thank you!

Walter

Sorry to hear you're still having issues with this @TE16

Would it be OK if we reached out via email to have a further look internally at this point?

TE16

That would be great, Walter! My email for correspondence purposes is [email removed as per Community Guidelines] the email I am trying to get Dropbox set up for is [email removed as per Community Guidelines]

Thank you!

Megan

Hey @TE16, I just sent an email to your Community-linked email address.

Reply back to me there, and let me know the email address that's facing this issue and we'll take it from there.

Thanks!

TE16

Thanks Megan!

I just replied to that email. (Thanks for removing the email address above!)

TE16

I received an email message from Megan on Friday asking me to use Dropbox Capture to video the issue I am having. I am not sure how I am expected to use this tool when I can't get into my Dropbox. This has been going on since July 4th. Rather than receiving "Badges" I would really appreciate and prefer to receive some actual support.

Megan

Hey @TE16!

I can see that you replied back to me. I'll get to it as soon as possible.

Thanks!

TE16

Thank you Megan