Child Item

My Dropbox app on macOS is stuck on "Connecting components" even after reinstalling.

Application Affected

Dropbox
Device

Macbook Air
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)

(Windows 11, macOS14.3, etc.)
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)

latest version (can't access app settings on current app)

Question or Issue

My dropbox app has been stuck on Connecting Components. I uninstalled and re-installed it twice to no avail. I even deleted the files from Library/Application support in Finder. The other weird thing is that there was no option to sign in even after the app was reinstalled. It was stuck almost immediately on Connecting Components. I would be super grateful for any help!!

Find more posts tagged with

Desktop

Mac

Insightful

Comments

Nancy

Thanks for posting this on our Community, @rb27!

Did you notice this behavior after any sort of Dropbox/OS update on your computer perhaps?

I was also able to locate another thread from a user who was having a similar issue. Can you have a look and let me know if their solution works for you?

If it doesn't help, please go ahead and perform an advanced reinstall (if you haven’t tried it already).

Let me know how it goes.

Rich

rb27 wrote:
My dropbox app has been stuck on Connecting Components. I uninstalled and re-installed it twice to no avail.

Have you tried an advanced reinstall yet? There's more to it than just deleting files.

rb27 wrote:
The other weird thing is that there was no option to sign in even after the app was reinstalled.

Are you already signed in to the Dropbox website? If so, the app could be signing in with the same account automatically. Sign out of your account in all browsers and the app will likely prompt for credentials.

rb27

Hi @Nancy and @Rich ,

Thanks for these suggestions. Unfortunately the problem is now worse than before. I tried to perform an advanced reinstall. Not sure that worked at the Terminal stage (I'm on Mac). I signed out of Dropbox web. Then I re-installed Dropbox. Only now this time it was stuck at the "Starting" stage and every attempt to sign in prompted this pop-up window, "Unable to connect." Screenshots attached. This is extremely frustrating to say the least.

Jay

Hi @rb27, could you confirm that you were able to complete the Terminal steps to full reinstall the Dropbox desktop application?

Nancys03

I am having the same issue did you find a solution?

Hannah

Hey @Nancys03, sorry to see that you're also having this issue.

Did you try the advanced reinstall steps provided in the thread? How did it go?

IgorF1

I tried these steps and the dropbox still stuck in "Connecting components..."

Nancy

Thanks for reporting this here as well, @IgorF1.

Do you mean that you’ve tried both the advanced reinstall and the steps provided in the other thread I had previously linked?

IgorF1

Yes. nothing helped. I can't work like this, what is the solution here?

Nancy

I’ve opened a ticket for you, @IgorF1, since we’ll need account visibility in order to investigate this further.

Please check the inbox of your email address and reply back to my message, when you get the chance.

allyinsf

I’m now having the same issue and, based on this thread, don’t want to move forward with the advanced reinstall unless there have been updates to this problem. Also @Nancy the link to the thread you mention launches you into the general community forum.

Nancy

Thanks for the nudge, @allyinsf! It looks like the thread I previously linked has been archived in the meantime.

If you’ve tried any other troubleshooting steps so far, can you let me know what these are, to see what else I can suggest for you?

allyinsf

@Nancy This is a recent thing --probably 1-2 weeks ago and not as the result of an OS update.

All I’ve done so far is log out of Dropbox on all my devices and ensured Mac OSVentura is up to date (13.7.8). I get the same “connecting components” error.

Should I proceed with the advanced reinstall, or will you provide the steps that were outlined in the archived thread since that can’t be accessed?

Nancy

Alright, in this case I suggest doing a basic reinstall next.

If this doesn’t work either, please go ahead and perform an advanced reinstall with the steps outlined here.

Keep me posted for any updates.

allyinsf

Nancy, I’m attempting to do an advanced reinstall, but am having problems. I have a Dropbox Teams account. I’m following the instructions below,= using my team name, but the response is “no such file or directory". Dropbox is/was in my “Locations” folder.

Help! I’m not able to work. Can you open a ticket so I can get assisted support?

Important: If you're part of a team account, your Dropbox team name is included in the folder path. You’ll need to enter “~/[Team Name] Dropbox" instead of “~/Dropbox” in the lines above.

Nancy

Thanks for letting me know, @allyinsf!

I just logged a ticket for you. Please reply back to it and we’ll go from there.

kateparker7788

This usually means something is stuck/corrupted locally, not the install itself.

Try a full clean reset (this fixes it most of the time):

Quit Dropbox completely

Open Finder → Go → Go to Folder and remove:

~/Library/Application Support/Dropbox

~/.dropbox

Also check and delete:

~/Library/Group Containers/group.com.dropbox*

Restart your Mac

Download and install Dropbox fresh from the official site

If it still hangs:

Make sure VPN/firewall isn’t blocking it

Check System Settings → Privacy & Security → Full Disk Access and allow Dropbox

Ensure you’re logged into iCloud (sometimes affects permissions)

After a clean wipe + reboot, it should show the login screen again instead of jumping to “Connecting components.”