The sync icons don't show up in Finder (macOS Sequoia 15.7.1).

I believe I did a minor OS update a week or so ago, but had a few days off, so I'm not certain if that's when it happened. As mentioned, I restarted the machine, so I assume that counts as restarting finder, but just in case, I also just relaunched finder, and no change. No I do not have any other tickets about this.

Megan

Hey @steveohm33, sorry to hear about that!

Would you mind clarifying the app's current syncing status? You can find it by hovering your mouse over the little Dropbox icon in your menu bar next to your WiFi.

While you're at it, could you also confirm the location of the Dropbox folder on your machine? Are you running the File Provider version of the Dropbox desktop application, where the Dropbox folder is located in the 'Locations' area in the Finder navigation window?

A screenshot showing the Dropbox folder without any sync icons would also help.

vladgasan

Hi @steveohm33, thanks for reporting this issue.

Please try the steps below:

Option 1. Restart Finder through the menu

Open the Apple menu and choose Force Quit
Select Finder
Click Relaunch
Wait a few seconds for Finder to restart
Open your Dropbox folder again and check if the sync icons appear

Option 2. Restart Finder using Terminal

Open the Terminal app
Run this command: killall Finder
Finder will close and restart automatically
Check your Dropbox folder again

If the icons still do not show, try restarting your computer and then reopening Dropbox.

Give these steps a try and let me know how it goes!

As mentioned above, I have both relaunched finder and restarted and neither of them worked. I've also quit and relaunched dropbox a couple times. I will try the terminal option, though I have low expectations.

@Megan status: "your files are up to date"
and FYI, everything is working as usual with it, it's just the sync icons which is a big deal as my drive very often fills up and I need to see what's synced that I don't need.

location is the default user/Adobe Dropbox

and FTR I've tried showing all attributes 'tags' 'labels' etc.

Hannah

Hey @steveohm33, thanks for the update.

Please try and let us know what happens when you restart Finder using your terminal and we'll go from there.

Nancy

Hi again, @steveohm33! Did relaunching your Finder via the Terminal help you in the end?

bbuttii

Hi Nancy,

I'm writing as well as i have the same issue on different device with Sequoia 15.7.3.

I've tried to relaunch the Finder several times without any resolution.

Do you have any advanced troubleshooting options?

I've also tried to reinstall and syncronize again all the dropbox files, even in a different path.

Kind Regards

Megan

Hey @bbuttii, I'd be happy to help as much as I possibly can!

I'm going to need to gather a few more pieces of info and get closer into what is happening before providing you with the appropriate next steps. Would you mind sharing a few additional things with me?

More specifically, I'd also like to know these specifics.

Keep me posted, and we'll take it from there!

Minor update - still having this problem a month later and after updating to 15.7.3.
I believe I answered all the questions and included screenshots in my posts above.

bbuttii

Hi @Megan,

I'm writing to inform you that the additionals info are the same as Steve's. Files up to Sync correctly, the file provider is enabled for the desktop finder correctly and no sync icons are appearing exactly as in the image of Steve.

Megan

Hey @steveohm33 & @bbuttii!

I just sent both of you an email in order for us to investigate further. Reply back to me, and we'll take it from there.

Cheers!

Hi everyone,

I'm having the exact same issue on two of my Macs - no sync icons are showing.

One is M1 running macOS 26.2, the other Intel running macOS 15.7.3. Both have latest Dropbox app version.

This started couple of weeks ago, I'm guessing after a Dropbox update.

I tried:

restarting finder via terminal
revoking and allowing full disk access to dropbox
quitting dropbox and killing finder integration proces via activity monitor
restarting finder again
rebooting the mac

...but none of these helped.

I checked that Dropbox Finder extension is turned on, and additionally that its File Provider and Sharing options are turned on in macOS settings.

Hannah

Hey @MattEU, sorry to hear that, but thanks for bringing it to our attention.

Can you please hover over the Dropbox icon in your menu bar and let us know exactly what you see there?

Thanks in advance!

Hi,

Thanks for replying!

Of course, here's the info:

I'll just add that syncing files and setting offline/online-only files is working correctly.

I'm just lacking icons that would inform me on the status of files/folders, which is making my work more challenging.

Hi @MattEU, you're viewing the Dropbox desktop app, and not the Dropbox folder in Finder, which is where you'll see the sync icons.

Could you locate your Dropbox folder and see if the icons are visible?

Hi,

I know, Hannah asked me to hover over the Dropbox icon in menu bar, which is why I posted the screenshot.

No sync icons are visible in Dropbox folder in Finder, as I stated in original report. I also reported steps I tried to troubleshoot.

I've been using Dropbox for 13 years on multiple platforms, so I noticed when the sync status icons in Finder disappeared.

Thanks for the info. Could you try reinstalling the Dropbox desktop application, without uninstalling it first, by using this link?

Hi, I reinstalled the Dropbox desktop app without uninstalling it first from the link. The sync status icons did not appear.

I also relaunched finder, but that didn't help either.

Do you have any other cloud providers running on your machine?

Could you try temporarily quitting them to see if this helps to bring up the Dropbox icons?

I have Backblaze and Adobe Creative Cloud which has a bit of cloud functionality.

I tried quitting both and relaunching Finder, but it didn't help.

bbuttii

Hello,

one of my customers still has the same issue even on 4 MacOS devices after 2 months. They contacted Dropbox support which only tried do uninstall and reinstall the Dropbox application. I've already tried everything but it didn't changed everything. Don't know if upgrading MacOS to 26.x could fix the issue.

Thanks for the details, @MattEU, @bbuttii, at this point it might be better for the support team to look into this in more detail.
You can contact them directly via this link, and they'll be able to investigate further.

Okay, thanks!

It seems this issue is more widespread than I thought. What's extra confusing is that two of my computers running different macOS versions on different architectures (x86 vs ARM) have the same issue at the same time. My guess would be that Dropbox app is causing the issue, given that it's the only common variable.

alikat11

Thank you!! Relaunching Finder worked for me just now (Sequoia 15.6) even though it had not worked a few weeks ago. My db icons are finally all back.

If anyone reading tried in the past, maybe try again. HTH!