Child Item

The dropdown context menu (right-click on Mac) isn't showing

petermooreworld

Dropbox's added dropdown menu options (like “Copy Dropbox link…” and “make online only” etc.) that show via right-click on Mac Finder window are suddenly absent.

May this have anything to do with recently having unlinked and re-linked my Dropbox? I did a re-link two weeks ago per a DropBox Tech's suggestion, troubleshooting a different issue.

Now I have two different Dropbox accounts. The new dropbox is visible in my Finder, the old one’s in ~/Library/Cloud Storage.

Can I just delete that old one?

Might that fix the issue?

Find more posts tagged with

Sync

File Access

Mac

Closed - Partially Delivered

New

Accepted answers

petermooreworld

Hello, just circling back as this has been solved.
SOLUTION: Quit DropBox, delete any/all DB folders in Finder, restart DB, and relink when prompted. Dropdown Context should work fairly immediately, but wait 24 hours or more for status icons.
STORY: This problem existed on both my M1 Desktop and my M1 MacBookPro. Back in June, I did jump out of this forum to contact DB support directly, as Jay suggested. At which point, after many other attempts, they suggested I make a "test" user account just to see if the problem existed there. It didn't, which pointed to it being an Apple/OS/extensions issue more than a DB issue. However, the next day I booted up with my normal user, and suddenly the context menu was back. No status icons, but after a few days those were showing up.
But the issue still persisted on my MacBookPro, even after updating to Sequoia, and after trying the same fix/workaround that worked on my desktop. After months of not having the functionality, I had a bit of time to troubleshoot more late September. I burned through four DB support people (and a few Apple support people) before Dave at DB had me try many other things, but finally solved it: I simply had to trash the old copies of dropbox in my Finder. Which I'd suspected was the problem, but none of the techs had me do it. Also, I *had* tried that when I had the same problem on my desktop in June, but it didn't solve it.
And who knows, it could've been the order in which everything was done before that that made it work.
I kept notes, so if anyone has any questions, I may be able to help. I don't wish that timesuck on anyone.

All comments

Hi @petermooreworld, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

As you have two Dropbox folders, we need to determine which one is active.

Can you see which folders has sync icons next to the files?

This will help me to assist further!

petermooreworld

The old ones do.
[Removed as per Community Guidelines]

petermooreworld

oops-- is that really the best way to attach an image in this forum?

Could you copy and paste the image in your next reply in order to view it on the forum?

petermooreworld

Guess not! Strange, I was looking for an "insert image"

Anyway, the top window is my "relinked" newer db. Less folders visible, but that's how I revised it. The lower window is the library/Cloud Storage, the "old" version.

Hey @petermooreworld, let me jump in here!

Based on your screenshots it looks like the bottom path is where your active Dropbox folder is located. You can see that it has the relevant syncing icons next to your files.

You can always check your app's preferences to see the current path of your Dropbox folder, and double check where it points.

If you right click on a file/folder on the bottom Dropbox folder, do you see the context menu there?

What happens when you add a file in there? Does it sync to your account online?

petermooreworld

I would hope the bottom one is not the active location. As it says "This is an unlinked dropbox" at the top of that folder. And the fact that new files updated to the top location are the ones I and others see on other devices. That's what strikes me as weird. That bottom one should NOT have the syncing icons, the top one SHOULD.

That's odd indeed @petermooreworld - have you tried adding a sample file on both locations as a test to see which one is syncing with your account on the website and your other devices as well?

Also, can you have a look at the app's preferences and confirm the exact path of your Dropbox folder under the sync tab?

While we're at it, is the app 'up to date' or still syncing in your menu bar?

petermooreworld

The new (relinked one on top of that ^^ screenshot) one is indeed linking on the website and to other devices. I've been using it daily.

The new one's path, as can be seen from this screenshot, is ~/Dropbox:

This is the old path, which has the sync icons:

App says it's up-to-date. It has the generic "trouble opening files" message but that's been there for months.

Hey @petermooreworld! Hope it’s alright, if I chime in.

Here’s what I’d like you to try next:

1) Unlink your device from Dropbox (after the computer has been unlinked, try deleting a file from both Dropbox folders and then, check www.dropbox.com to make sure the updates you’ve made haven’t synced online).

2) Ensure that all of your previous updates and files (prior to unlinking the app) are accessible online (if they’re not, please create a copy of your local files on a different location, outside of Dropbox).

3) Uninstall the Dropbox app.

4) Delete both Dropbox folders from your device.

5) Download the Dropbox app again and sync everything anew.

That should fix the issue and your files should be syncing to a single Dropbox folder after that.

petermooreworld

Hi Nancy. Short answer: this looks like it's working, thank you!
Detailed answer and further questions: I waited a few days til I could devote time to this. I knew at least I'd have to spend time informing the reinstalled dropbox what folders I'd like to Selective Sync, like it did a few weeks ago when I went through this same process on this M1 desktop and last week when I went through this same process (for a totally different issue) on my MacBookPro. A few suggestions to help the next person:
The link you sent to unlink the device from the account was just a link to log out of db, which won't do the trick. This link worked better:
https://help.dropbox.com/security/device-list-remote-sign-out
And the uninstall link is good, however it suggests to "Click your avatar (profile picture or initials) in the top-right corner" but if you just unlinked your device you will have no avatar, so all you can do is Quit. Most people will probably figure that out, but I can see someone getting derailed on that.
Similarly, those links say to *delete* the app and the dropbox folders, when actual Mac parlance is to *Move to Trash*.
And, strangely this time, upon starting the downloading process from db.com, it remembered which folders I wanted to Selective Sync from the other week when I did this!! Must be b/c I recently did it on this same device? If that's the difference, it'd be helpful for a user like me to know that. I would've taken screenshots of my prefs weeks ago when it DIDNT remember this, and NOT have done it this time when it DID remember it.
But the long and short is, at least I'm able to right-click and see my sync options (whew!)
QUESTIONS:
There's no icon showing me the cloud or green circled arrow to denote offline or make online-only. Why not? Will those show up over time?
And related, when I pull down my DropBox from the menu bar it says "Your files are up to date" yet it just started syncing this in the last 10 minutes and couldn't possibly be done downloading the nearly 1TB of data I asked it to sync. And sure enough, all of the files that I know should be available offline say they're Zero Bytes when I click on them in my Finder. That doesn't seem right, does it?

Hey @petermooreworld - thanks for taking the time to share your experience and thoughts on this.

When it comes to the missing syncing icons, could you send me a screenshot of how your files in the Dropbox folder look on your end?

Did you try quitting and relaunching the app or even rebooting your computer?

petermooreworld

Okay, Nancy, thank you, that mainly worked. I *do* have right-click context menus in the dropdown.
Now the issue remains: there is STILL no icon to the right of the file name to tell me if a file is online-only vs. available offline (cloud icon vs. green-circled check mark---in the first screenshot I posted on 5/21 above, you can see those icons in the lower folder, but not in the upper).

Does this happen with only this particular folder or are others affected too @petermooreworld?

Does it persist after rebooting your computer?

petermooreworld

No, Walter, it's all folders. Doesn't matter if the files are online-only or available offline, I see nothing. Behavior has sustained through multiple reboots since it appeared.

petermooreworld

Sorry, Nancy, I missed your reply from last week before I typed this ^^

petermooreworld

petermooreworld

or, this screenshot, which showed my old Dropbox (below) which HAS the sync icons and the new Dropbox (above) which does NOT.

Hey @petermooreworld, thanks for the additional info and screenshots.

If you right-click on a file or folder in your Dropbox folder and change its state, say, from available to online-only, does that bring the cloud icon next to that file?

petermooreworld

No. it stays invisible.

Hi again, @petermooreworld! Hope you haven’t already tried these steps and I’ve missed it, but can you relaunch your Finder this way, and let me know if you can see both your sync icons and your context menu options after that?

petermooreworld

Hi Nancy. I started following these steps, but got stuck at "Finder Extensions." It only sees my Google Drive Finder exts, no DB (see attached). Which is strange, seeing how in the last week I've un-/relinked db twice and updated the DB app itself. Any idea how to get that back (preferably without un-/relinking)?

Thanks for the details regarding this matter. In order to look into this in more detail, I'd recommend contacting the support team directly for them to investigate further.

If there's anything else we can assist with, feel free to reply back here.

petermooreworld

Hello, just circling back as this has been solved.
SOLUTION: Quit DropBox, delete any/all DB folders in Finder, restart DB, and relink when prompted. Dropdown Context should work fairly immediately, but wait 24 hours or more for status icons.
STORY: This problem existed on both my M1 Desktop and my M1 MacBookPro. Back in June, I did jump out of this forum to contact DB support directly, as Jay suggested. At which point, after many other attempts, they suggested I make a "test" user account just to see if the problem existed there. It didn't, which pointed to it being an Apple/OS/extensions issue more than a DB issue. However, the next day I booted up with my normal user, and suddenly the context menu was back. No status icons, but after a few days those were showing up.
But the issue still persisted on my MacBookPro, even after updating to Sequoia, and after trying the same fix/workaround that worked on my desktop. After months of not having the functionality, I had a bit of time to troubleshoot more late September. I burned through four DB support people (and a few Apple support people) before Dave at DB had me try many other things, but finally solved it: I simply had to trash the old copies of dropbox in my Finder. Which I'd suspected was the problem, but none of the techs had me do it. Also, I *had* tried that when I had the same problem on my desktop in June, but it didn't solve it.
And who knows, it could've been the order in which everything was done before that that made it work.
I kept notes, so if anyone has any questions, I may be able to help. I don't wish that timesuck on anyone.

Featured Links