I’m experiencing a persistent issue with Dropbox on macOS 26.2. The Dropbox folder in Finder (I'm using Dropbox on file provider) keeps flickering or refreshing every second. This constant refresh makes it very difficult to work with files. For example, when I preview a multi‑page PDF using Quick Look (pressing the space bar in Finder), the preview resets back to the first page every time the folder refreshes. As a result, I cannot scroll through or read the document properly. Additionally, the blue Dropbox icon that appears before the folder name (“Dropbox”) in Finder keeps turning on and off repeatedly, like a flickering bulb. This visual flicker happens in sync with the folder refresh and makes the issue even more disruptive. Details: * Integration Affected: finder * Device: MacBook Air M3 running macOS 26.2 (latest version) * Dropbox: Version 238.4.6075 * Issue: Dropbox folder in Finder refreshes every second, disrupting file previews and navigation * Symptoms: * Quick Look resets to the first page of PDFs * Blue Dropbox icon before the folder name flickers on and off * Steps to reproduce: * Open Dropbox folder in Finder (the icon in titlebar flickers Steps to reproduce Secondary problems: * Select a multi‑page PDF and press space to preview. * Attempt to scroll to the second page. * Finder refreshes, preview resets to page one, and the Dropbox icon flickers. This behavior is very frustrating and makes it difficult to use Dropbox with Finder, I expect it to act as a normal folder on finder!.

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Dropbox Finder Integration Flickering on macOS 26.2

I’m experiencing a persistent issue with Dropbox on macOS 26.2. The Dropbox folder in Finder (I'm using Dropbox on file provider) keeps flickering or refreshing every second. This constant refresh makes it very difficult to work with files.

For example, when I preview a multi‑page PDF using Quick Look (pressing the space bar in Finder), the preview resets back to the first page every time the folder refreshes. As a result, I cannot scroll through or read the document properly.

Additionally, the blue Dropbox icon that appears before the folder name (“Dropbox”) in Finder keeps turning on and off repeatedly, like a flickering bulb. This visual flicker happens in sync with the folder refresh and makes the issue even more disruptive.

Details:

Integration Affected: finder
Device: MacBook Air M3 running macOS 26.2 (latest version)
Dropbox: Version 238.4.6075
Issue: Dropbox folder in Finder refreshes every second, disrupting file previews and navigation
Symptoms:

Quick Look resets to the first page of PDFs
Blue Dropbox icon before the folder name flickers on and off

Steps to reproduce:

Open Dropbox folder in Finder (the icon in titlebar flickers

Steps to reproduce Secondary problems:

Select a multi‑page PDF and press space to preview.
Attempt to scroll to the second page.
Finder refreshes, preview resets to page one, and the Dropbox icon flickers.

This behavior is very frustrating and makes it difficult to use Dropbox with Finder, I expect it to act as a normal folder on finder!.

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Accepted answers

a_endari

Hi @Dell_Dropbox ,

Thank you so much for your quick response and helpful suggestions! I really appreciate you taking the time to assist.

Unfortunately, the steps you mentioned didn’t resolve the issue for me. However, I noticed something interesting: iCloud Drive was also stuck uploading an 800B file. To fix that, I disabled and reenabled iCloud Drive in macOS settings, and surprisingly, that seemed to resolve the Dropbox issue as well—or at least, I think it did!

I’ll keep an eye on it and report back with more details if the problem occurs again. Thanks again for your support!

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Dell_Dropbox

Thanks for dropping by the community and sharing this @a_endari

When did this issue start for you exactly?

As a first step, please try restarting Finder and then toggling the Dropbox Finder integration off and back on from Dropbox preferences. In many cases, that resets the extension state and stops the repeated refresh.

a_endari

Hi @Dell_Dropbox ,

Thank you so much for your quick response and helpful suggestions! I really appreciate you taking the time to assist.

I’ll keep an eye on it and report back with more details if the problem occurs again. Thanks again for your support!

Hannah

Thanks for keeping us updated, @a_endari!

We'll be here if you need anything else!