I was unable to find this site until today. It seems like it was a well-hidden secret. I used YouTube extensively, but found no satisfaction there.

Been using Dropbox since 2010 and it has had it's ups and downs and definitely feel it has worsened user experience since Dropbox changed to Apples file-provider services in 2022-2023.

Saying this as I have very extensive experience of using Dropbox and to the larger degree, quite positive experiences.

But, since a few weeks ago when I updated my system to macOS 26.4, I've started getting "Preparing to move to"… dialogs very frequently. And dialogs that stays up for seconds, sometimes quite a few.

Just run the problem in ChatGTP which has lots of explanations including recommendation to move files in terminal…. Not tried anything yet.

Posting this here to see what others has come up with. And hopefully also some comments from Dropbox the company itself.

I thought I had worked this out programmatically, but the criteria seem to change over time.

com.dropbox.attrs is the relevant extended attribute. But I'm not sure
how to decode the contents.

I'm running MacOS Tahoe 26.4.1

Scott Baden

Feature request: Really miss the feature to have Dropbox default to making all files downloaded and available for offline open/save. I will always, 100% of the time, want Dropbox to keep all my selected-to-sync files to also be downloaded and available for offline use. 

I know you can right-click to request offline availability, but this creates a bit of an unclear situation as you can't see by looking at a file in Finder whether it is supposed to be offline available or not.  I want this to just be the way Dropbox works.

Since there is the option to do this on a per file / folder basis using right-click, seems likely possible for Dropbox to make this effectively on-by-default for every file, with the user doing the gesture. 

16GB RAM

macOS Sonoma 14.4

Dropbox v194.4.6267

For some time now I have been unable to set files or folders as "available offline" in actuality. The check mark next to the file or folder changes to a green tick when I choose to "make available offline" but the cloud icon (seems this is a macOS icon, not a Dropbox one) remains and the file does not download unless I try to open it, at which point it downloads and becomes an offline file.

I have scoured the forums and the only article I can find was from the Dropbox Beta some time ago and that didn't seem to get resolved.

Does anyone have a workaround or solution for this?

I also have Google Drive running on my Mac and thought this may be an issue so uninstalled it but no luck.

Question or Issue

I have been having the same issue as described in this thread for at least 1 month. It makes Quick Look (and therefore Finder) really awful to use. If you try to QuickLook or preview a pdf, image, etc. the quicklook state resets and refreshes. For example, I navigate in Finder to a pdf in my dropbox. I press SPACE to quicklook the item. I scroll down the PDF. The QuickLook resets/refreshes and I lose my place in the document. There is a huge impact on everyday tasks.

Troubleshooting efforts:

1. I viewed this topic and followed the suggestions there. It did not help.
2. If I quit the Dropbox app, the issue persists.
3. I found something really interesting. If I look at the Path Bar at the bottom of Finder, the folder icons keep changing several times per second (matching the flickering in QuickLook). Sometimes the icons in the Path Bar show as blank gray squares with dashed outlines or Green folders with check marks. It appears that these mini icons  are constantly changing. If I disable the Path Bar, then the flickering stops in the quicklook. Again this happens in the Dropbox section of Finder, and not elsewhere. I've shown an example of the two options I see flicker on the Path Bar. Again the file previews and quicklooks flicker also, which is more problematic. I point out the Path Bar as a potentially useful piece of information to determine the problem.

Thank you!

Hi,

My Dropbox sync is stuck forever, no idea why. See attached screens.

Question or Issue
I am have very slow upload speeds. It is taking 50 minutes to upload a 2.2 gig file.  My upload speed is 490.  I thought it was my computer, so I purchased a new one.  Went from M2 to M4.  No change at all.

Question or Issue

After a recent update I got error messages about the Finder and Dropbox started defaulting to saving my documents in the Dropbox cache, ".dropbox" (which I did not know existed).  I then deleted the cache.  This morning I was required to log in to Dropbox and go through the process of resyncing everything.  And then even though I did not ask that the files be offloaded to the cloud, every one of my folders and files has the cloud icon next to it (on my desktop).  I am a little anxious about what awaits me with my office iMac which is significantly older and slower.

Question or Issue

My dropbox app has been stuck on Connecting Components. I uninstalled and re-installed it twice to no avail. I even deleted the files from Library/Application support in Finder. The other weird thing is that there was no option to sign in even after the app was reinstalled. It was stuck almost immediately on Connecting Components. I would be super grateful for any help!!

I uninstalled the dropbox app and now I can't access my download folder or other shared folders on my mac at all, or download anything new - what can I do? 

Question or Issue
I’ve had the same “Updating 42 files” on my monitor tab icon for over a year. after syncing new addition, it reverts to this notice. There is nowhere I can find what or where these 42 files are to be found. With the disaster of the mixed main filer location since it was moved into the Library, where I now have two folders residing, Things are getting more complicated and less reliable, a situation that seems to go hand in hand everywhere I encounter ‘more complicated.’ In Preferences>Sync>Dropbox folder updates “You are using Dropbox on File Provider. To opt out ...

1st question: how to get rid of “Updating 42 files

2nd question; how to have a single Library folder? Do I have to compare the two folders, file at a time? Cuz that would be a real PIA and I could lose data as several people in this forum have already experienced. files copied with zero info.

3rd question. Does anybody try these new systems out in real world situations?

Jay [removed per the Community Guidelines], Kenwood CA

Sequoia 15.7.3
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)
244.4.6580

Question or Issue
I have set my preferences within dropbox to "Online only" for file location moving forward. Im trying to upload a folder (about 800 gb in size) and it's saying I need to clear up local storage still on my MacBook. Which means dropbox is still trying to default to Offline access for files even tho I changed the settings to Online only. 

Issue
While organising and renaming files in Finder, I accidentally typed the \ character in one of the file names. I corrected it almost immediately, but not before Dropbox had registered it as a file that it couldn't upload.

Now I'm getting a constant message about how "1 file is unable to sync" and telling me to remove the special character.

But that file effectively doesn't exist anymore (at least not with the faulty name). I therefore can't "view" it or "fix" it. And there doesn't appear to be a way of getting Dropbox to drop the matter.

How can I get Dropbox to dismiss this now non-existent issue?

(The file with the corrected name is syncing just fine, I can view it on Dropbox[dot]com, etc.)

How does the CloudStorage folder function? It appears to be a mirror of the Dropbox folder, but I'm confused as to why it's occupying so much hard drive space. It almost appears as though the Dropbox files on my computer as opposed to being in the cloud are being stored twice.

Thanks for your help. 

In advanced, I'm sorry for my long text and spelling errors)

I have a shared Dropbox with my colleges, and I work from home. Earlier this week I was working in InDesign, and it crashed while I was working. A message said it was a serious error, but no info what the error was about. (I have attached several screenshots below) Anyway, I started InDesign again, but the document I was working on could not be opened, because it was damaged. I work as a freelance book designer, but luckily for me I was only working on a book cover, and not the inside of the book. It was annoying, but not the end of the world. 

This was just the beginning. Now every single time I open an InDesign document from Dropbox, all the links is just shown as blank, like there is nothing there. It's just like a white new document, with nothing there, only the text. Nothing is linked anymore, and I have to link every singe images again. Let's say I have 50 images in a folder, it doesn't link everything at once, which is crazy annoying and extremely time consuming. Sometimes when I open a document in InDesign it seems fine for one second, but then all the images shows up like "crazy art" (screenshot 2) After I link an image, it seems to be okay the next time I open the document, luckily. But I have a lot of book projects and it's a crazy amount of time fixing everything manually.

I also get weird messages when opening a document (the bottom screenshots) 

It also seems to be a problem when I have a document open, and want to edit a picture. I choose to open the picture in Photoshop, and edit there. When saving the document, it usually update the file in InDesign automatically, but not now. I guess it's  just a part of the same problem. 

I have no idea what to do to fix the problem. All Indesign documents on my computer is fine, so the problem is only between Dropbox and Indesign, and not InDesign alone. I always work with the documents/folders (available offline) and I have never had a problem with this before the crash.

I have already contacted Dropbox customer service. After a lot of back and forth, they said the problem is with Adobe. Then I contacted Adobe (which has terrible customer service) and they told me the problem is Dropbox. So here I am, with no clue on how to fix the problem.

I have restarted Indsign and Dropbox, but nothing changed. I don't know what will happen with new documents placed in dropbox yet, but fingers crossed the issue will not effect new work. Time will show after the Holiday.

Happy Stressfull Easter to me I guess :P

Application Affected
Dropbox

Device
Apple MacBook Pro M1 Max, 64Gb of RAM, 2Tb SDD 
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)
MacOS Tahoe 26.2
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)
240.4.8493 (I got this from the "Get Info" in the finder)

Question or Issue
1) Whenever I double-click the dropbox app, it opens the dropbox FOLDER in the finder.  How do I open the app?   

2) The menu bar icon, which previously would show sync status, sync issues, and provides access to preferences, is not shown.  I have a 36" screen, and it isn't a case of "hidden" menu items.

3) I know that the app is (mostly?) running.  Control-Clicking on a file shows the dropbox commands within the context menu.  (See image below.)

I also know its running because the various apps are shown in "Activity Monitor" (image below.)

Steps I've done to try to solve the problem:

1. Uninstall Dropbox
2. Reinstall Dropbox
3. Restart the computer.

I don't feel comfortable doing the "Advanced Install", as it appears that doing so means losing all of my "selective sync" settings, which I've been setting up for years.  (And since I can't get into the app's "prefs", I can't super easily see what is selectively synced or not.

I'm at the point where I'm ready to toss the program out and move everything to Google, but I REALLY LOVE the program, and am hoping that I'm simply missing something simple, and there there is a quick fix.

Thanks - Randall

Problem

Just out of a sudden, with no obvious reason, Dropbox decided that 40,000 files needed updating! Though in reality they are not. I just worked on a few text files. My working day is ruined because I can't wait till they are synced!

Question or Issue
A second MacBook Air (M2) running a near-identical setup DOES show the menu bar. I use Bartender, which confirms through a search that the menu bar item doesn't exist. I just ran an advanced reinstall of Dropbox, but still no change.

Files originally stored in the /user/document/dropbox automatically moved to new location ~Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox despite after checking the Opt Out option while reinstalling. 

Despite I have tried many times to remove the previous version settings (see link below), I will see new files being synced into my designated local drive location first and silently move to the new location (cloudstorage) 5mins after every new installation. I believe the auto-updating features never observe the Opt Out option that I chose. I tried to remove dropbox related files in the /library/LaunchAgents, /library/dropbox and /library/Application Support/dropbox in different times, but files will come back as dropbox somehow will download them back to the machine, making sure they will update to the latest version.

Is there any real solution to this by not moving my files in the original location to cloudstorage. I am so many code tired to the original location.

Appreciate someone can advise.

https://help.dropbox.com/installs/advanced-reinstall#reinstallDropboxmac

Device
(MacBook Air M2)
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)
(macOS26.3 Tahoe)
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)
(244.4.6580)
Dropbox Plan
(Basic)

Question or Issue
Heavily use Dropbox for my business and love the application, however I just transitioned to new computer and when moved over Dropbox has been auto generating an enormous (tens of thousands...enough for Dropbox to send me emails wondering if something is wrong) number of files in the delete folder.  These files have unusual names, none of which I have generated or used.  They include names such as: Album-prepare-marker.plj, journalAttr.101616, .dat.nosync2FO.JZcDX8, and a lot similar to eat_jounalAttr_BCE8333B1-A91E-4B9D-97B6-65618...E9_6289556_95721.processed, an entire folder with: file cache.DAE6E2DC-BE92-42E1-A959-1A562426A8D9

There are a lot of others, these are just a few.

Can someone recommend how this can be addressed?  It is clogging up my Dropbox, showing up in recent activity, and driving notifications to my email for things I haven't done.

Appreciate the support.  Mike

Online-only files in my Dropbox folder show as 0 KB and download/open fine on double-click, but there are no Dropbox right-click options in Finder (no “Make available offline”, no “Online-only”, no Dropbox submenu).

Tried: enabling Dropbox File Provider in Login Items & Extensions, granting Full Disk Access, relaunching Finder/rebooting, and full uninstall + reinstall from Dropbox .dmg. Still missing. I even contacted Dropbox Support and they haven't given me any solutions yet.

Has anyone found a fix or workaround to restore the Finder context menu actions?

Thanks!

Question or Issue
i cant find the menu for my automated backup of external harddisk. As they are now full i need to manage them.

I looked online, and found a guide thats says i should click on my dropbox item in the menu, and then the backup tab. However there is no backup tab.

All in all i am a little frustrated with the DropBox interface. It seems like shared folders, local folders and backups are divided into different silos and some of them - like automated backups - is quite a puzzle to reach. This is strange as this is basically the same function. It would be much more logic to have an overall menu for all dropbox functions, so as a user you are able to acces everything from the same place. 

So in short - how do i acces my backup menu?

I am running the latest Dropbox on MacOS Tahoe v26.3 (not a new install).  As you can see, I have always had my files set to be available offline:

However, any time I upload a file, it does not download to my computer as expected:

How do I instruct Dropbox to always keep my files offline?  I do not have any ignore rules or any other special circumstances, and the computer has ample storage space.  Finally, I am on the Dropbox Plus plan, and I'm using around 10G of the 2T available.

Any help would be very much appreciated!

Thank you,

Josh

I’m experiencing a persistent issue where Dropbox will not start correctly on macOS. The app launches background processes, but the UI never appears, the menu bar icon does not show, and I cannot open Dropbox preferences.

System Information

Device: MacBook Pro 14-inch (Apple silicon)

Chip: Apple M5

Memory: 32 GB

macOS: Tahoe 26.3.1

Dropbox version: 244.4.6580

Behavior

* Dropbox processes are running in Activity Monitor and via terminal

* No menu bar icon appears

* No UI window opens

* Preferences cannot be accessed

* Files may partially sync in the background

Error Message

"Couldn't start Dropbox. This may be a temporary error. A provider with ID com.getdropbox.dropbox.fileprovider was found, but is in the process of being invalidated."

Troubleshooting Performed

* Full uninstall and reinstall of Dropbox multiple times

* Deleted all Dropbox-related folders:

~/Library/Application Support/Dropbox

~/.dropbox

~/Library/Group Containers/G7HH3F8CAK.com.getdropbox.dropbox.sync

* Restarted the Mac multiple times

* Reset Finder, fileproviderd, and bird

* Reset SystemUIServer (menu bar)

* Verified processes via terminal (ps aux)

* Manually launched Dropbox binary

Key Observation

When I create a new macOS user account, Dropbox works perfectly:

* Menu bar icon appears

* UI loads normally

* No errors

This suggests the issue is isolated to my primary user environment.

Request

I need assistance fully resetting or clearing the File Provider integration and user-level Dropbox state so Dropbox can launch correctly in my main user account.