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System Tray Window shrinks every time I open it

This started happening out of nowhere today. The system tray window continually shrinks from its bottom-right corner every time I open it. I can't resize the window and after 5 or 6 clicks it's so small that it's completely unusable, as none of the text or icons are displayed anymore. I tried restarting my PC, uninstalling + reinstalling Dropbox, the problem still persists. I've never had this problem with any other system tray app.

Now the only way I can see options like Pause Syncing and Preferences is by right-clicking the system tray icon. Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this?

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Hannah

Hi Darryl!

We've addressed those issues in our recent Beta Builds, and we anticipate that it will function smoothly in the next stable version (expected in the upcoming week).

Let us know if you can still spot this issue after upgrading it.

Thanks.

All comments

Walter

Thanks for the flagging this with us @darrylschick

If you'd be willing to give it a go, there are some additional troubleshooting you can do listed on this page.

I know it's not much, but I hope this helps a tad.

darrylschick

@Walter They mention switching between displays of different resolutions. Unfortunately I can't avoid that. 4K is generally 3840 x 2160, but in the Dell XPS it's 3840x2400. This also happens on the PC where the 4k monitor is repeatedly connected and disconnected via the KVM switch. No other apps are having issues so hopefully this can be tracked down and fixed.

dvanable

Has Dropbox been able to replicate this issue? If so, is Engineering working on a fix?

The problem is pretty irritating, and prevents me from making important setting changes.

The workarounds presented are not viable, as referenced earlier.

Please advise, thank you.

Dave

Megan

Hi @dvanable, I hope you're having a great Monday so far!

Would you mind clarifying the OS you're using, along with the Dropbox version that you have installed there?

Also, when did you first start noticing this behavior?

Let me know!

dvanable

Megan, I'm using Windows 10, OS Build 19045.3324 on a Lenovo X1 Carbon.

First noticed when I reported it, because I am about to be traveling and need to set up Dropbox to fully back up my hard drive in case of loss/damage. With this defect, I'm unable to do so which is quite frustrating.

Dave

darrylschick

@dvanable Does the issue you are having look like the screenshots I posted? Also curious if you switch displays/monitors like I do. I have only seen this issue on two PC's that are connected by KVM switch to use different monitors.

dvanable

@darrylschick yes, looks like the screen caps you posted, and yes I switch displays frequently (built-in laptop monitor vs. Dell flat screen).

darrylschick

@dvanable Thanks for confirming that. Dropbox should be able to replicate the issue if they test the same scenario.

Megan

Hi @dvanable, what about the Dropbox version that you have installed there?

It would be on your task bar, next to your WiFi and you can find it by hovering your mouse over it.

phil_stothard

I have exactly the same issue which the title of this thread describes very well. The window is getting smaller and smaller each time! Windows 11. Now it is

that's all. Dropbox version 180.4.4912. Happening on laptop display. Regularly swap between laptop display and external monitor.

It's weird that every time I click on the icon in the system tray it does seem to halve in size. Laptop display is set to 2880x1800 (recommended setting) and 200% (recommended)

darrylschick

@Megan and Dropbox team, we have three customers (me, @phil_stothard, @dvanable) now seeing the same probable cause of this issue. When screens are switched, the algorithm that detects the new screen and resizes the tray popup is not scaling properly to the new screen size. I believe that you should be able to replicate this by attaching a Windows 11 PC to a KVM switch and switching between displays. Please keep us posted.

dvanable

180.4.4912

Latest per Dropbox hover.

darrylschick calls it - three reproduceable cases, all sound identical (I also use a switch between two HDMI cables - have tested without the switch, that's not it.

Dave

darrylschick

Now I have this problem. All icons are gone at the top of the tray popup.

dvanable

What is Dropbox's sprint cycle and schedule? This seems like a pretty important issue, that has been open for (likely) several sprints now.

I ended up backing up my hard drive manually to be sure I had a capture before traveling -- took several hours of baby-sitting, just before a big trip which I would call quite a nuisance at minimum.

Dave

TBat

This probably won't help anyone using Windows 11, but the problem fixed itself completely after I updated to Windows 10 Build 19045. At the time of my initial post I had kept my PC on an older version since MS updates kept screwing up software I need for work.

Now my Dropbox UI is working normally. Wish there was a more concrete answer😕

dvanable

Thanks - and sadly I am on Win 10 v19045.3324 and still experiencing the problem... won't be moving to Windows 11 until they enable the ability to NOTE stack windows.

Dave

darrylschick

@Walter @Megan I set up a completely new user on my Dell XPS13 Windows 11 laptop three days ago and installed dropbox and sync'd my files. Now a few days later, I see this.

Walter

HI all, could you let us know if you happen to be running any 3rd party apps that might be causing issues?

For example, Fences, 7 Taskbar Tweaker and TaskbarX are all different apps that affect layout/organization of normal Windows functions that could be causing some kind of visual issue.

If you are running any of these, could you try disabling them temporarily and let us know if it resolves the issue?

dvanable

@Walter I am not running any of these, to my knowledge.

Is Engineering able to reproduce the issue, or are they still attempting to reproduce?

Dropbox is completely unusable for me at this point.

Dave

darrylschick

@Walter I don't have any of those programs. The only two PC's with the issue are Dell XPS running Windows 11 that switch between using different monitors using a KVM switch. My other 15+ computers at my business don't have the issue, although they are Windows 10. So the possibilities I see so far is that the window does not resize properly in response to changing monitors, or compatibility with Win11.

dvanable

And I'm on Windows 10, and I also switch between monitors via HDMI A/B switch.

Dave

darrylschick

@Walter If you take a windows laptop with dropbox installed and plug it into an external monitor (ideally with a different screen resolution) and disconnect and reconnect it a number of times you may see the issue. If that doesn't work try a HDMI switch and switch the PC between two monitors of different resolution.

Megan

Hey guys!

For anyone facing this, can I ask if your screen's resolution is set as the default, or if you've changed that in any way?

Keep us posted!

dvanable

Both the laptop and flat panel display are set to default.

Dave

phil_stothard

For what it is worth mine works ok to my external monitor but does the shrinking on the laptop monitor - which is set by default to the recommended view which is a very high resolution and 200%.
The shrinking - which is literally halving in size with each view - only happens on the laptop screen. If I restart the laptop it goes back to normal then halves each time. It is always fine to the external monitor.
I’m a bit past caring I was initially pulling all of the content from Dropbox down to a new user on the laptop so needed to monitor it. Now it’s just business as usual updates largely from laptop to Dropbox and don’t need to watch. Surprised you haven’t fixed it or presumably even replicated.

Megan

Hi @dvanable, in this case, can I send you an email, in order to have a closer look into this?

Also, @phil_stothard, you mentioned that on the laptop monitor the display is set to 200%. Have you tried changing it to 100%, to check if the same thing happens then?

phil_stothard

i'm sure it won't happen at 100%, but I am not setting everything on the laptop display to suit one minor application............. the recommended settings are 200% and 2880x1800. I'm not going go against those just for one drop box window which should work with those display settings.

I think you have more than enough information to know what the issue is and go away and resolve it. Some other old apps misbehave with these settings but not to the extent dropbox does i.e. continually halfing the display window size.

dvanable

Megan, yes please. Do you have it from my account info?

Dave

Hannah

Hi all, thanks for all of your insight on this.

We actually brought this up to our team, and we'll be implementing a fix soon, to address these reports.

We'll update you here once we have news.

Thanks again!

darrylschick

@Hannah Will the update address both issues (shrinking window size, and disappearing icons)? The disappearing icons issue occurs even when the window does not shrink. I posted a screenshot earlier in this thread, and am seeing it again this morning. When this happens, it's impossible to access the settings, web link, search, etc.