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The Dropbox icon keeps disappearing from my MacBook taskbar

Hi - my dropbox icon keeps dissapearing from the taskbar of my MacBook Pro (Retina, 13-inch, Early 2015). I am running High Sierra 10.13.6 and my dropbox is version 228.4.5567. When the icon dissappears files stop syncing. I can also no longer open dropbox from an icon placed in the toolbar but have to double click the icon in the applications folder. (dont know if this is linked). When I do, the icon reappears in my taskbar (the one at the top of the screen) and syncing restarts. A day or so later it will then dissappear again

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enclosure

Hi Megan & Nancy. I havent yet done the advanced reinstall as the issue seems to have resolved itself. I had done some parallel reading about the issue and it had been suggested I might untick the dropbox icon in the login items menu (in users & groups), restart the computer, then retick it. I did this and the icon/connection has not dropped off now for one continuous week. I have no idea if my actions were causal or co-incidental - but fingers crossed the duration of the connection means whatever the issue was has been rectified.

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Hannah

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, @enclosure.

Can you uninstall the Dropbox app, restart your device and then reinstall it, to see if that helps?

Keep us posted!

enclosure

Hi Hannah.

I have quit via the dropbox icon in the taskbar, but when I attempt to drag and drop the app icon from the applications folder into the trash it wont let me - advising that "the item dropbox cant be moved to the trash because some of its extensions are in use". I have quit all applications to see if this remedied the situation but it persists. Can you advise which extensions these might be and how I switch them off.

Hannah

Thanks for keeping me updated, @enclosure!

If you're having this issue, please open your "Activity Monitor" and if you see any items that refer to Dropbox, or recognize any programs that you may have linked to Dropbox, please perform the following steps:

Click on the line that references the process to select it
Click on the 'X' at the top left corner of the screen. Be careful not to click on the 'X' that closes the window, but the one that will 'Force a process to quit'.

After this, try to uninstall the app once again and let me know how it goes!

enclosure

Hi Hannah. Using the activity monitor I found the dropbox finder extension. It needed to be force quitted (rather than just quitted) to permit me to put the app from the applications folder in the trash. I have now emptied trash, restarted and reinstalled the dropbox app. This has been successfull and I am synced up to date. I guess I will now have to wait a few days to see if the icon in the taskbar stays in place.

Hannah

Thanks for the follow-up!

I'm glad to see you were able to complete the uninstall-reinstall process and, of course, if the issue comes back, feel free to let us know.

Cheers!

enclosure

Hi Hannah.

Im getting in touch to say that it hppened again - either Tuesday or yesterday based on the files that then had to be retroactively synched. Any thoughts as to what is happenening now we have managed to discount the removal and resinstall of the app?

Megan

Hey @enclosure, let me jump in here!

Thanks for keeping an eye on this.

Not entirely sure as to why this is happening. However, I'd like for you to try these steps in order to perform an advanced reinstall.

Can you try it, and then keep an eye on the app to see how it behaves?

enclosure

Thanks for this. Im not going to be able to run through the proposed actions until Monday so will update you Monday afternoon on how it went.

Megan

Take your time, and let us know of any updates @enclosure.

Nancy

Hey @enclosure! Did you get the chance to perform the advanced reinstall, as per Megan’s instructions above?

If yes, feel free to let us know how it went.

enclosure

Nancy

That’s honestly great to hear, @enclosure! I’m hoping that did the trick, as well.

For anything else though, you can always give us a nudge.

Theresa

Hi there @enclosure and welcome to the Dropbox Community. I’m really glad to hear things are running smoothly again and thank you for coming back to share that update. It’s always great when things get resolved!

Since you’re using Dropbox on macOS, I’d love to know... do you have a fave feature that helps you get the most out of it on your device? Always curious to hear how folks are using Dropbox day to day on Mac.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

T😸 (Dropbox Community Manager)