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The Dropbox Desktop app won't start on a new installation with an external drive on Mac OS

I_R_H

Hi - I've been looking to switch my Dropbox location to an external drive on my Mac, but having problems getting this to work ('Could't Start Dropbox) after a few iterations with various troubleshooting, such as an advanced reinstall. Installing with a default location works fine.

I'm on File Provider (as described here), and I've followed the instructions here - I've signed out, set-up the drive with APFS (Encrypted) - a new partition on an external drive, signed in and gone through the start-up wizard. In the advanced settings, it lets me select my external drive, but then throws an error on start-up - see pop-up and error codes below.

I've changed the permissions on the external drive as a test, but this did not help.

Any suggestions? The only other thought/question I had was for the advance reinstall instructions for File provider, did the terminal for the line below need to be updated to reflect the '~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox' path?:

sudo mv ~/.dropbox ~/.Trash/dropbox.old

Thanks.

Error Code is:

bn.BUILD_KEY: Dropbox
bn.VERSION: 274.4.4905
bn.constants.WINDOWS_SHELL_EXT_VERSION: 97
bn.is_frozen: True
machine_id: dd41a4a9-3bbf-5475-a857-ccc86d93e6b8
pid: 4507
ppid: 1
uid: 501
user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='[Removed as per Community Guidelines]', pw_passwd='', pw_uid=501, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='[Removed as per Community Guidelines]', pw_dir='[Removed as per Community Guidelines]', pw_shell='/bin/zsh')
effective_user_info: pwd.struct_passwd(pw_name='[Removed as per Community Guidelines]', pw_passwd='', pw_uid=501, pw_gid=20, pw_gecos='[Removed as per Community Guidelines]', pw_dir='[Removed as per Community Guidelines]', pw_shell='/bin/zsh')
euid: 501
gid: 20
egid: 20
group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root'])
effective_group_info: grp.struct_group(gr_name='staff', gr_passwd='', gr_gid=20, gr_mem=['root'])
DYLD_LIBRARY_PATH: None
cwd: '/'
real_path='/'
mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0
parent mode=0o40755 uid=0 gid=0
HOME: '[Removed as per Community Guidelines]'
appdata: '[Removed as per Community Guidelines]/.dropbox/instance1'
real_path='[Removed as per Community Guidelines]/.dropbox/instance1'
mode=0o40700 uid=501 gid=20
parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 gid=20
dropbox_path: None
not found
parent not found
sys_executable: '/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'
real_path='/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/MacOS/Dropbox'
mode=0o100755 uid=501 gid=20
parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 gid=20
trace.file: '/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/Resources/python-pypkg.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'
real_path='/Applications/Dropbox.app/Contents/Resources/python-pypkg.zip/dropbox/client/ui/common/boot_error.pyc'
not found
parent not found
tempdir: '/var/folders/n0/8vy4px_d1kg5y_9s4nml4y9h0000gn/T'
real_path='/private/var/folders/n0/8vy4px_d1kg5y_9s4nml4y9h0000gn/T'
mode=0o40700 uid=501 gid=20
parent mode=0o40755 uid=501 gid=20
Traceback (most recent call last):
File "desktop/dropbox/client/main.py", line 7464, in _setup_root_for_account
File "desktop/dropbox/sync_root/helpers.py", line 204, in create_root_for_account
File "desktop/dropbox/foundation/futures/basic.py", line 939, in result
File "desktop/dropbox/exception/exception_decorators.py", line 47, in newfn
File "desktop/dropbox/sync_root/handlers/macos/file_provider.py", line 349, in _completion_domains
File "desktop/dropbox/sync_root/handlers/macos/file_provider.py", line 335, in set_result_or_convert_exception
File "desktop/dropbox/foundation/futures/basic.py", line 751, in set_result
File "desktop/dropbox/foundation/futures/basic.py", line 714, in _on_post
File "desktop/dropbox/foundation/futures/basic.py", line 1138, in _stage1
File "desktop/dropbox/foundation/futures/basic.py", line 998, in _when_done
File "desktop/dropbox/foundation/futures/basic.py", line 1157, in _stage2
File "desktop/dropbox/foundation/futures/basic.py", line 751, in set_result
File "desktop/dropbox/foundation/futures/basic.py", line 714, in _on_post
File "desktop/dropbox/foundation/futures/basic.py", line 1119, in _stage1
File "desktop/dropbox/foundation/futures/basic.py", line 451, in _then_callback
File "desktop/dropbox/sync_root/handlers/macos/file_provider.py", line 1286, in _init_completion
File "desktop/dropbox/exception/exception_decorators.py", line 47, in newfn
File "desktop/dropbox/sync_root/handlers/macos/file_provider.py", line 1207, in _init_completion_inner
dropbox.mac.internal.MacError: [Errno 513] Error Domain=NSCocoaErrorDomain Code=513 "The file couldn’t be saved because you don’t have permission."

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Jay

Hi @I_R_H, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Could you check to see if Dropbox has Full Disk Access by using the steps in this article?

Regarding the Terminal commands for the advanced reinstallation, you only need to change all instances of ~/Dropbox with ~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox. This doesn't include the ~/.dropbox folder as it's a different format.

If you can share any new error messages, logs or OS/Dropbox specs, that'll help me narrow this down much faster.

I_R_H

Thanks Jay - yes - full disk access, plus device control and data access.

OS is MacOS 27.01 (26A434) and Dropbox version is 274.4.4905

No different error messages that I'm aware of, though here are the logs (from .dropbox/logs) from the latest external drive attempt after checking that and rebooting.

[Removed as per Community Guidelines]

Thanks

Jay

Just to clarify, when you mentioned a new installation, did you mean the installation of the Dropbox desktop application, or an OS update or installation, such as a migration of your data from one Mac to another?

I've also removed the Dropbox logs for your own security and privacy.

I_R_H

New installation of Dropbox - initially tried to sign out and choose the new location (per the instructions), but when that didn't work, I tried to reinstall, then advanced reinstall - with no luck on either.

No other new OS reinstall or update.

Megan

Hey there, @I_R_H!

You mentioned that the installation works in the default location. Can you confirm whether the Dropbox desktop app runs without any issues there? Do you still get an error, or no?

Please also double-check that your external drive has sufficient free space and the correct read and write permissions.

Finally, could you test this on a separate macOS user profile to see if the issue persists?

I_R_H

No errors in the default location (~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox on Mac with MacOS File Provider.

External drive has 355GB free and at the system level, I've changed permissions to RW for all users (me, others, system).

Created a new user account and had the same issue.

Thanks

Walter

Thank you for clarifying that for us @I_R_H - much appreciated.

Assuming that you're able to open the Dropbox desktop app normally, can you please follow these steps to see if they help?

Make sure the Dropbox desktop application is running
Click on the Dropbox icon in your menu bar and then click your profile picture or initials
Select 'Preferences'
Click on the 'Account' tab
Hold down the 'Option/Alt' key
Click on the 'Fix Permissions' button (make sure you're still holding down the 'Option/Alt' key)
You may be prompted to provide a username and password. This would be your computer login credentials, not your Dropbox account ones.

Let me know how it goes!

I_R_H

Thanks - Tried that before and it seemed to work OK, but trying it again now (set-up as default location, not external drive) gives the error:

'Dropbox was unable to fix permissions in your dropbox. Please contact support if the problem persists.'

I can't check on the external drive option, as that does not let me into the account settings to check.

Noting also when I do try to open Dropbox again after the failed set-up, I get this error - wondering if the 'None' is significant (presumably of some permissions error for the external drive.). In the mean time, I'll try one more advanced reinstall, to remove the app completely for the system level permissions.:

Walter

Let me know if you still have issues after the advanced reinstall and I'll send you an email to have a further look internally @I_R_H.

Thanks!

I_R_H

Still having problems:

- Fix permissions error still coming up

- Still can't set-up on the external drive

- After the advanced reinstall, the existing system level permissions were still there (N.B. the instructions seems to be slightly out of date for these, as there is no 'Accessibility' under Privacy and Security for MacOS 27. 'Full Disk Access' is in there, but no additional accessibility type settings, either there or under the separate Accessibility top-level setting.

Thanks.

Walter

I see, thanks for keeping me in the loop @I_R_H. I've just sent you an email to investigate, so please take a look at your inbox and we'll take it from there.

Senameru

Hi Walter and I_R_H,

I am experiencing what appears to be the same issue on macOS 27.0.1, with Dropbox versions 274.4.4905 and 275.4.3565.

Dropbox starts and works normally when its folder is on the internal SSD. However, selecting an external drive during setup causes Dropbox to fail to start with NSCocoaErrorDomain Code 513 (permission denied).

I have reproduced this with two separate external NVMe SSDs and a newly created APFS (Encrypted) volume. Full Disk Access has already been granted to Dropbox, and reinstalling the app has not resolved the issue.

The traceback points to _init_completion_inner in Dropbox's macOS File Provider handler (file_provider.py), which appears to match the failure reported in this thread.

Could you please include this report in the ongoing investigation and let me know whether there is a known workaround or a fix planned? I can provide further diagnostic information privately through Dropbox Support if needed.

Thank you.

Walter

Hey @Senameru - thanks for your report and joining the discussion here.

I've sent you an email as well to investigate, so please take a look at your inbox and we'll take it from there.

Senameru

My issue is now resolved, and Dropbox has completed syncing successfully on my external SSD.

I found approximately 20 duplicate device entries for my Mac on the Dropbox Security page. After unlinking all of them, I was finally able to delete the remaining .CloudStorage/Dropbox folder on the external drive. I then cleared the local Dropbox settings, restarted my Mac, and reinstalled Dropbox with a fresh setup.

I suspect stale device links and the remaining local Dropbox/File Provider state were involved, although I cannot confirm the exact cause. Simply reinstalling the app had not helped, but the full reset resolved it.

Thank you, Walter, for your assistance. I have also shared the details by email.

Hannah

Thanks for closing the loop here, @Senameru.

I'm glad to see that your issue got resolved!

If you come across any other issues or if you have any questions, let us know.

Have a great week ahead!