The venerable "missing smart sync icons" problem. * MacOS Mojave 10.14.2 * Dropbox 64.4.141. (Professional Acct) * Have reinstalled DB several times (including via full desktop download). * Tried the "check-uncheck finder integration" (have uncheck, uninstalled, reinstalled, rechecked, too). * Have unlinked account and relinked account. * ForceQuit finder more times than I can remember. * Have ForceQuit the Dropbox Finder Integration app.. every time b/f restarting or trying fresh install. Menu options for local vs OnlineOnly are active and work. Just can't tell looking at any file/folder in Finder whether it is local or online only. What am I missing? OneDrive does this, no problem. Just about at my ropes end with DB.

Hi Greg, as you’re on a Mac, you can check if a third-party application is causing this issue with the following steps:

Save any files and quit ALL programs.
Completely quit and close any third-party cloud service applications such as Google Drive, OneDrive, or others.
Quit Dropbox:
Relaunch Finder using the following steps:

Click on the Apple icon in the top left of your screen
Click on "force quit"
Select Finder then click "Relaunch"

Restart the Dropbox application.

If the issue is resolved at this point, it may be due to the third-party applications running on the computer.

If the issue persists, or you see that a new application is causing issues please let me know.

All comments

Hi Greg, as you’re on a Mac, you can check if a third-party application is causing this issue with the following steps:

Save any files and quit ALL programs.
Completely quit and close any third-party cloud service applications such as Google Drive, OneDrive, or others.
Quit Dropbox:
Relaunch Finder using the following steps:

Click on the Apple icon in the top left of your screen
Click on "force quit"
Select Finder then click "Relaunch"

Restart the Dropbox application.

If the issue is resolved at this point, it may be due to the third-party applications running on the computer.

If the issue persists, or you see that a new application is causing issues please let me know.

Greg T.16

Jay:

Thank you for this suggestion. The first thing I did was restart in safemode, launched DropBox and verified the missing icons would appear. They did!! I then went about testing each loaded application for potential conflict. I did that by exiting each, then force-quitting/relaunching finder. Turns out, it was a fellow cloud storage app from Sync.com. I have notified them of the conflict and hereby am letting DB know as well. don't know whose software is the culprit, only know that you two don't play nice together.

martideans

In case anyone else finds this thread like me, the OneDrive Finder Extension will also mess things up. You can quit it from the Activity Monitor and then disable it in Settings>Extensions to make the Dropbox icons come back!

Thanks for the input, this will definitely help future users if they come across this issue!

cfront

This did not work for me. Any other solutions?

Hi @cfront , do you have any other cloud provider, or third party apps that might add icon overlays to your files?

Do you not see the icons when running the Mac in Safe Mode, with no other apps running in the background?

cfront

Turned out that I was running a beta version that was messing with my icons. They still don't copy but if I set them up locally Dropbox doesn't mess with them.

Glad to hear that you were able to resolve the issue!

cbarberjust

Hi, Jay -- I followed these five steps, but to no avail; I still can't see the Smart Sync icon. I'm running macOS Mojave, 10.14.2.

You can check which plan you’re on from here.

Hi @cbarberjust, are you on a Dropbox Professional or Business plan? Only these two plans have Smart Sync.

cbarberjust

Hi, Jay -- I have Dropbox Plus. I didn't realize that gave me access to Selective Sync but not Smart Sync. I enabled Selective Sync and now I'm all set. Thanks for following up.

No worries, have a great evening!

MadeleineH

I have also lost the smart sync function - which is the primary reason we upgraded our Dropbox account. I have tried the above and it has not solved the problem I still cannot smart sync. [email removed by moderator as per Community Guidelines]

ucblu

In my case it is an application that I use to create new files in Finder called NewFileMenu. I have to disable/then re-enable this extension so my Dropbox file/folders sync icons show up again.

Thanks to all for the hint about other extensions interfering with Dropbox or vv.

Hey @MadeleineH, sorry for the late response here!

Can you let me know if you are still having this issue now with not being able to see the sync icons? I’d be more than happy to help with this.

Let me know - Thanks!

PS. @ucblu, I'm glad to see that you were able to find the info you needed on this thread!

Hello, I am running El Capitan still (if it works, do not fix it) and I am having the same issue of not seeing the Smart Sync option, and none of the proposed solutions worked for me.

IMHO, we should be able to use Smart Sync without problems regardless of the programs that we actively use. I am sorry to say, but you should fix this problem from your end, not ours. We pay, we pretend a service.

Stefano.

Hey there @Steciu,

When you mention that you can’t see the Smart sync options, can you let me know if you are not able to see the option in the menu when Command clicking a file? Or do you not see the syncing icons next to your files to notify you which files are local or online only like the OP described?

To look into this a little further can you also let me know the current sync status and version of the desktop app you have installed on your computer? If you’re not able to see the Dropbox icon in your menu bar then you’ll need to launch the app from your Applications menu.

Let me know what you find - Thanks!

MichB86

Hi Jay,

I am missing the smart sync icons in my dropbox.

I have tried the above, force quiting finder but they still do not appear.

Please can you help? I am working on a Mac, and have dropbox plus.

Thanks,

Michelle

Hello Daphne,

you said: "can you let me know if you are not able to see the option in the menu when Command clicking a file?"

What I do is to right-click on the folder or file that is in the Dropbox, and the only options I have are Share/Copy Dropbox Link/Rewind (which I do not know what it means)/View on Dropbox.com.

You also said: "Or do you not see the syncing icons next to your files to notify you which files are local or online only like the OP described?"

When I look at the content of the Dropbox folder from my Finder, I see a green dot that says that the file has been copied or uploaded to Dropbox (some files I only keep in Dropbox, some others are shared folders with other coworkers). If that is what you mean by "the syncing icons", then I do see them. However, the green dots do not tell me "which files are local or online only".

The current sync status is "up to date", if that is what you mean.

The version of the desktop app is 76.4.126.

I do see the Dropbox icon in the menu bar.

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Stefano

Daphne, I just noticed that in the General tab of the Preferences, I read "Smart Sync ins't enabled". However, when I click on the "Enable" option, nothing happens.

Stefano

Daphne, for unknown reasons, NOW it works,

Stefano

Hey @Steciu,

I’m glad to hear the issue has been resolved, great work on the troubleshooting there!

If you see the issue again then feel free to get back to me here.

Hope you have a great day - Thanks!

JWHenderson

Hello I'm having the same issue with sync icons not showing in the dropbox folder. Also, none of the Dropbox menu items appear when right-clicking on a file or folder. I can't share or manage from the finder.

Everything has been running fine, had icons and menu items and then suddenly poof. I haven't changed anything on the computer or installed anything new.

Macbook Pro 15 running OSX 10.13.6

Dropbox version 76.4.126

Hey there @JWHenderson,

Can you let me know the current sync status of your desktop app? If you’re not seeing any options from the Command+click menu related to Dropbox then it might suggest that the app isn’t running on your device.

If the app is showing it is “Up to date” and you’re still not seeing the sync icons or menu options, then click the Dropbox icon on your menu bar, click the profile pic/initials in the top right of the window and choose to “Exit Dropbox”.

Then please open your Activity Monitor from your Mac Utilities folder and force quit all remaining Dropbox instances. Once this is done, please click the Apple icon in the top left of your screen and force quit the Finder. Finally, restart the Dropbox desktop app from your Applications menu and once the app is showing "Up to date", check to see if the issue persists

Let me know what you find - Thanks!

JWHenderson

Hi Daphne,

Thanks for your response. I've tried your suggested solution and it did not solve the problem. My current sync status is there is nothing being uploaded or downloaded at the moment. I see all the folders and files in finder, but none of the dropbox related items exist.. No sync status, no right-click options. It just appears as a normal folder like any other.

I see the same things happening as JWHenderson describes. So far, no good.

Actually, again, after having restarted the Finder and Dropbox, I had to go to the preferences again to actvate the smart sync option. So, why does it keep changing without my input?

https://www.dropbox.com/s/yvzv0qc8ux9jc87/Screen%20Shot%202019-07-15%20at%202.22.36%20PM.png?dl=0

Hey @JWHenderson,

Can you check your desktop app preferences to see if smart sync is still enabled as Steciu mentioned? You can do so by clicking the Dropbox icon, clicking the profile pic/initials in the top right, choosing Preferences… and then on the General tab ensuring smart sync is enabled.

Otherwise, can you please send me a screenshot of your sync status so that I have a better understanding as to what you’re referring to? You can see this by clicking the Dropbox icon in your menu bar. Also, can you let me know if you can see the sync icons for your files in your Finder window?

Finally, @Steciu would you mind if I reach out to the email address associated with your Community profile so that we can look into this further?

Let me know - Cheers!

JWHenderson

@Daphne Here's a link to the screen shot since the photo upload here doesn't seem to work for me.

As you can see the sync status is up to date. I have no option in the Preferences General tab for Smart Sync. Also, the sync status icons are not showing. When I right-click a file or folder in the dropbox folder in finder I have none of the Dropbox options there.