Dropbox Finder sync icons aren't working on Mac OS 26 Tahoe, both legacy & File Provider versions

Question

Hi everyone,

I'm running macOS 26 Tahoe (26.5.1) with Dropbox 256.4.3790 and I've lost all sync status badges in Finder. Posting here because I've spent time diagnosing this and want to share what I found.

The problem:

In legacy mode (garcon/FinderSync extension), the badges simply don't appear. After investigating, I found that FinderSyncExtensionHost — the macOS process responsible for hosting FinderSync extensions — no longer exists on macOS 26. Dropbox's garcon.appex extension registers successfully via pluginkit (shows as + enabled) and the garcon process runs, but without FinderSyncExtensionHost there's nothing to render the badges in Finder.

In File Provider mode, the badges do appear, but the "Make available online only" right-click option in Finder is broken/missing, making Smart Sync unusable.

So both modes are broken in different ways on macOS 26.

What I've tried:

* Restarting Finder (killall Finder)
* Re-registering the extension (pluginkit -e use -i com.getdropbox.dropbox.garcon)
* Killing and restarting FinderSyncExtensionHost (process doesn't exist on macOS 26)
* Toggling the extension off and on in System Settings

Environment:

* macOS 26 Tahoe 26.5.1 (Build 25F80)
* Dropbox 256.4.3790
* Apple Silicon

Is anyone else seeing this? Has Dropbox confirmed macOS 26 support is in progress? The FinderSyncExtensionHost removal seems like a significant OS-level change that Dropbox needs to adapt to.

Hannah · Answer

Hey @jongsac, thanks for the additional info.

I was able to locate your support ticket and I see that it's with our specialists.

I've passed your comments along and raised the priority of the ticket, so you'll be getting a reply the soonest possible.

Let us know if you need anything else.

jongsac · Answer

Hi Jay, thank you for the response. I've already investigated this further and found that the issue is at the OS level: FinderSyncExtensionHost — the macOS process responsible for hosting FinderSync extensions — no longer exists on macOS 26 Tahoe. This is why garcon registers successfully but badges never render. A reinstall would not restore a process that Apple removed in macOS 26. Could you escalate this to the engineering team as a macOS 26 compatibility issue? This is not an installation problem.

Jay · Answer

Hi @jongsac, thanks for posting today.

Currently, we've not received reports of sync icons not appearing on the latest version of Mac OS.

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 details.