Child Item

Unable to sign in to Dropbox in MacBook Air Taskbar

Application Affected
Dropbox App
Device
MacBook Air
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)
MacOS Tahoe 26.3
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)
144.4.4491

Question or Issue
Problem best stated as OS based App will not open on MacBook Air, and will not let me login.

Background: It’s been awhile since I actively used Dropbox; it has probably not been backing up as intended. I realized a while ago that I had two accounts, and am finally going through the process of combining data by sharing from secondary account to the primary, so I can delete one account due to renew 3.30.26. I’ve been working on the Browser-based Dropbox to do this. My problem is that now I am trying to see all the shared folders & files on my MacBook Air, and to verify that these are all “available offline” before I continue the process of moving, backup and deleting redundant account. But I can’t yet see then newly shared folders in Finder on MBAir, although I see them in the primary account in Browser-based view. I opened Dropbox in the Taskbar but any attempt to use it sends it into an endless loop.

I chose to make the primary account - the one I will keep - that same user name / email as my Apple account, at least I think that is what I have done. I’m not sure if that is the issue, though. When I open the Dropbox in Taskbar, I can see the general, account, backups, network, notifications, and sync tab. Selecting Account shows me message to Sign in to a Dropbox account, but doesn’t ever finish spiraling.

My account is Dropbox Plus.

What do I need to do to fix this?

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Accepted answers

Nancy

Hey @LucyGebhart23! Besides the VPN that you’re using, do you have any other security programs (antivirus/firewall) running on your device, that could be interfering with Dropbox?

If yes, can you please temporarily disable them as well, and restart your device?

All comments

Mark

Have you checked you are on a recent version of Dropbox?

Try a reinstall from http://www.dropbox.com/downloading

LucyGebhart23

Thank you, Mark, for the fast reply. Your suggestion was spot on, and it moved me off of starting line. I downloaded and installed update, but cannot see to what version. At the moment, I am still stuck. Here is screenshot.

The Dropbox on my MBAir hasn't synced since I updated the version. It says it's trying to connect. I am a US citizen in South Korea at the moment, so I usually use a VPN (Nord). I have tried restarting and running Dropbox with and without the VPN, on a 5G and non 5G private home internet account where I am staying (not a hotel, a private home). On the left, you can see Dropbox folder in Favorites, which shows the folders from the primary account which is what I have signed into Dropbox on as user ID. The Dropbox folder in Locations (which is what is open in the background) only shows a couple of files, and not all the shared folders that should be showing, which I can see in Dropbox in Safari Browser login.

What additional steps should I take?

Nancy

Hey @LucyGebhart23! Besides the VPN that you’re using, do you have any other security programs (antivirus/firewall) running on your device, that could be interfering with Dropbox?

If yes, can you please temporarily disable them as well, and restart your device?

Megan

Hey @LucyGebhart23!

Hope things are going smoothly! Just wanted to check if you still need a hand. If all's well, feel free to share what did the trick.

LucyGebhart23

Thank you for reaching out, Megan. I was able to resolve my problems. It was a combination of out of date Dropbox, conflicting VPN and Anti-Virus/Security applications. It's awkward, but to let Dropbox sync, I have to have the Security & VPN turned off. Then I have to turn them back on. I don't know if there is a longer term solution, but I can live with this for the moment. Ultimately, I want to figure out how to backup my Dropbox folders onto an external drive, so that I can run a program to find duplicates. I think I have a lot of those, but that's for another day. <smile>

Megan

Hey @LucyGebhart23, thanks for the added info!

Happy to see that everything is back on track.

If you need something else, please let me know and I will be more than happy to help every step of the way.