I'm getting a message that Dropbox needs to change permissions for a folder under a different user

Question

Hello,

I'd like to follow up on a support case regarding Dropbox on my desktop computer. I had opened a case about this before, but it was closed without the issue being resolved — that's why I'm reaching out again.

Background: when this machine was first set up, its computer name was "silviovitiello." At some point it was renamed to "Studio," and the actual macOS user account on it is "vitiello" (i.e., /Users/vitiello). I've since deleted all the Dropbox-related files I could find on my end. However, when Dropbox on your side recognizes this machine, it still shows this error:

"Dropbox needs to change permissions for the folder: /Users/silviovitiello/.dropbox"

That path refers to a user account that doesn't exist on this computer — "silviovitiello" was only ever the computer's name, never a macOS account name. Dropbox appears to have a stale reference to that old path (possibly tied to the old computer name), and is trying to apply permissions to a folder that isn't reachable.

Could you help me either clear that stale reference on your end, or walk me through cleanly disconnecting and reinstalling Dropbox on this machine so it stops looking for that path? I want to avoid ending up with duplicate or orphaned Dropbox data tied to the old machine identity.

Thank you for your time and help.

Best regards,

Silvio

Здравко · Accepted Answer

Hi @vitiello ,

Execute following comand in terminal window:

rm -rf ~/.dropbox

Hope this helps.

Jay · Accepted Answer

Hi @vitiello, thanks for messaging the Community! This error can occur when the username has been changed, or the Dropbox desktop application was migrated from a different machine. These steps should help to resolve this matter. Please be sure to take note or take a screenshot of any selective sync settings you may have applied prior to re-installing as you will need to re-apply these settings after this process. First, please save and quit all programs accessing files in the Dropbox folder, and then follow these instructions: * Open your Terminal app (Located at /Applications/Utilities/Terminal) * Copy and paste the following line (highlighted below) into the Terminal and press ENTER. Please make sure you copy and paste this command (don't type it by hand), as getting it wrong could cause some harm. You'll be prompted for your computer's admin password (not your Dropbox password) after entering the first command. Keep in mind that the password field in the terminal will remain blank as you type your password. After you type it, just press ENTER. You'll know that these instructions complete normally once the initial line of text (called prompt) comes up again: sudo mv ~/.dropbox ~/.Trash/dropbox.old * Please note that once the command prompt returns, the instruction will have completed the requested task. If the command returns an error, or does not respond after an hour, you may want to try restarting your computer and trying this step again. * Restart Dropbox from the Application folder, then please sign in and apply any selective sync settings you may have had prior to this reset during the sign in process. Your account will take a few moments to reindex the files and sync any pending changes. Keep me updated with any progress!