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The Dropbox menu bar icon keeps blinking in and out. What should I do?

I just installed the app on my mac, and now the menu bar icon keeps blinking in and out. When I can see it and click on it, a window opens briefly then shuts again. I'd like to uninstall and reinstall but when I try to uninstall from finder, it tells me the app can't be deleted because it's currently open. In Activity Viewer, when I try to stop all Dropbox processes, new processes immediately start again so I can never get them closed. Does anyone know what is going on and what I can do?

The only thing I can think of that I did is that when I first installed it, I tried to take dropbox out of "open at login" in system settings becasue I didn't realize this was essential to its functioning. The system immediately put it back into the open at login list! But maybe I screwed it up somehow. Does anyone have any suggestions? Thank you!!!

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Accepted answers

Dell_Dropbox

@zekereich if Dropbox is not appearing in Force Quit but you think it may still be running, you can also force quit the Dropbox application by using Terminal.

Open the Terminal application by using the search function or navigating there from the Applications folder.

Once terminal is open, type in pkill -x Dropbox and press enter. Dropbox should now be completely closed.

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Jay

Hi @zekereich, thanks for posting today!

Could you confirm what version of Mac OS you're running on your machine?

If you're not on a Dropbox Basic plan with more than 3 devices connected, could you try an advanced reinstall of the app using the steps in this link?

Keep me updated with any progress!

zekereich

Thank you so much! Sequoia 15.5. The trouble I'm having is that when I try to complete the steps below, the message I get is "The item Dropbox can't be moved to the Trash because it's open." (But if I double click the app in the Applications folder I get the message "The application Dropbox is not open any more"!) Would love to hear any thoughts you have - thank you!

Quit the Dropbox desktop app:
- Click the Dropbox icon in your menu bar.
- Click your avatar (profile picture or initials).
- Click Quit.
Uninstall Dropbox:
- Open your Finder.
- Click Applications.
- Locate the Dropbox app and drag and drop it to the Trash. Or, right-click the Dropbox app icon and select Move to Trash.

Jay

Could you try checking the Force Quit menu on Mac OS to see if the app is still running on your machine prior to moving the app to the Trash?

zekereich

Great thought, tried that too and it's not appearing in Force Quit.

Dell_Dropbox

@zekereich if Dropbox is not appearing in Force Quit but you think it may still be running, you can also force quit the Dropbox application by using Terminal.

Open the Terminal application by using the search function or navigating there from the Applications folder.

Once terminal is open, type in pkill -x Dropbox and press enter. Dropbox should now be completely closed.

zekereich

That did it - thank you! After this step I was able to delete the app. Now to try reinstalling it! Much appreciated.

zekereich

Reinstall now worked using the "advanced reinstall" instructions linked to above. Thank you again!

Dell_Dropbox

No prob @zekereich , enjoy your weekend!