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Root folder control removed from Finder in Dropbox Business

The business version of Dropbox no longer allows users to add or remove folders in Finder from the root Dropbox folder. This change was just applied to my account, but I came across a thread from 10 months ago — now closed — where many other users expressed similar frustration, with no clear reasoning provided.

I’m genuinely curious why Dropbox would choose to make the root folder essentially unusable outside of their website. As a workaround, we’ve created a single folder inside the root, which we now use as our working root folder to maintain our existing workflow. But honestly, it feels ridiculous that this workaround is even necessary.

Could someone from Dropbox explain the reasoning behind this change? My first guess was that it might be a safeguard against accidentally deleting important folders — but that doesn’t really hold up, since users can still easily delete folders inside a makeshift root folder in Finder.

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Comments

Walter

Hey @Val Burke - sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

Just to make sure we're on the same page, can you share the URL of the Community thread you mentioned and let us know some additional information about how this is impacting your everyday work-flow?

Also, are you an admin of the team account or just a member?

Let me know more and we'll take it from there, Val.

DBoxTips

Hello @Walter

Here is a recent thread where @m_edina_2025 reported the same issue.

Thanks,
Andrew (DBoxTips)

P.S. I am a volunteer on the Dropbox forums, freely and happily sharing know-how with other users, not affiliated with Dropbox in any way.

DBoxTips

Sorry, looks like I forgot to add the link to the thread:

https://www.dropboxforum.com/idea/101002013/enable-create-and-rename-foldersfiles-on-macos-dropbox-application-for-admin-use/827850

Couldn't make the link clickable due to some bug in the editor:

Thanks,
Andrew (DBoxTips)

Val Burke

I’m just a member of our Dropbox Business account, but I was granted admin access to help troubleshoot this issue — since even our admin is unable to create or drag folders into the Root folder in the Mac Finder.

This thread was the first I found mentioning the issue, and I see has since added a link to another related thread I hadn’t seen before.

In our workflow, we regularly create and delete files and folders in the root folder. Now, this requires the extra step of going to the Dropbox website. For example — exporting files from another application to a new folder in the root isn’t possible anymore; you have to create the folder on the website first, then export. Want to share that folder to someone outside of the dropbox team? You need to go to the website to create a link. Wanting to work offline in the root folder and sync later? That’s no longer an option either. It is simply a lot of extra effort to use the root folder.

Our workaround has been to create a makeshift root folder inside the Dropbox root. Since these restrictions don’t apply to subfolders, we can keep working the way we need to — but it really makes me question the point of the root folder restrictions in the first place.

https://www.dropboxforum.com/discussions/101001013/i-can’t-create-new-folders-or-move-existing-ones-from-my-root-dropbox/778608

I am also unable to create a hyperlink due to a bug in the editor.

Val Burke

I was hoping to at the very least get explanation to help users understand why their ability to to create, move, rename and delete folders in the Mac finder Root folder has been removed and now requires visiting the website to manage.

It is honestly terrible, that we need a makeshift root folder in the actual root folder to us Dropbox as we have been for years.