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Forum Discussion
Dropbox options missing in right-click menu on Windows
Hi guys,
today, probably after downloading and installing latest stable release a Dropbox, the context menu disappeared from Windows Explorer.
Dropbox version: 183.4.7058
Windows 10 ver...
Hi all,
Jumping in here, as our team would like to share some insights that may be helpful:
This issue may be related to other applications on your computer that use the icon overlay and context menu functionality of your Operating System.If you are on Windows, please note that Windows has a limit of 15 overlay icons that Windows Explorer can load, and the operating system reserves 4 for its own use.
If there are more than 15, then the Dropbox icons or context menus may not show. To fix this and move the Dropbox sync icons to the first 15 positions:1. Follow the steps in the following article to open your Windows 10 registry editor (applicable to Windows 11 also):
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/how-to-open-registry-editor-in-windows-10-deab38e6-91d6-e0aa-4b7c-8878d9e07b11
2. A “Registry Editor” window will open.
3. Navigate through the following folders: “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE” > “SOFTWARE” > “Microsoft” > “Windows” > “CurrentVersion” > “Explorer” > “ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers”.
4. Rename (right-click and click Rename) the files, so that the Dropbox files appear in the first 15 files in the list. You can do this by putting spaces in front of those file names, so that they move higher up in the list.
5. Close and restart both of your computer and the Dropbox desktop app.
Thank you,
Sam
Nancy
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffThanks for all the details you've shared here, Superpetak!
Are all of the Dropbox accounts you mention on the same plan?
If one of your desktop apps was running the beta app version/experimental build, you should be able to see it if you hover over the small Dropbox icon in your system tray.
Do any of these devices run an app version that looks like this XXX.3.XXXX?
Sam DBX
Community Manager
Community ManagerHi all,
Jumping in here, as our team would like to share some insights that may be helpful:
This issue may be related to other applications on your computer that use the icon overlay and context menu functionality of your Operating System.
If you are on Windows, please note that Windows has a limit of 15 overlay icons that Windows Explorer can load, and the operating system reserves 4 for its own use.
If there are more than 15, then the Dropbox icons or context menus may not show. To fix this and move the Dropbox sync icons to the first 15 positions:
1. Follow the steps in the following article to open your Windows 10 registry editor (applicable to Windows 11 also):
- https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/how-to-open-registry-editor-in-windows-10-deab38e6-91d6-e0aa-4b7c-8878d9e07b11
2. A “Registry Editor” window will open.
3. Navigate through the following folders: “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE” > “SOFTWARE” > “Microsoft” > “Windows” > “CurrentVersion” > “Explorer” > “ShellIconOverlayIdentifiers”.
4. Rename (right-click and click Rename) the files, so that the Dropbox files appear in the first 15 files in the list. You can do this by putting spaces in front of those file names, so that they move higher up in the list.
5. Close and restart both of your computer and the Dropbox desktop app.
Thank you,
Sam
... Did Dropbox automatically select their own reply as an "Accepted Solution" here just to close the ticket?
- Sam DBX
Hi iNfeRnO B.,
Thanks for reaching out.
We wanted to flag our team's insights, but we're still open to feedback and to helping out users if needed.
Let us know if you need help with this.
Thanks,
Sam
I did follow these steps and they were not helpful to me. The Dropbox registry entries were within the top 15 already, but just to be sure I made them be right at the very top but still that did not solve the issue. Restarting the computer has no effect either.
Try this.
Hit cnt+alt+del to open task manager. right click windows explorer and scroll down to restart. Restart it. Then close out task manager and reopen windows exporer. The dropbox thing should reappear.
- Megan
Hi iNfeRnO B., sorry to hear about this!
As a first step, can you try what ShawnMBuilder, suggested?
If this doesn't work could you please let us know if the app is 'up to date' or still syncing?
Could you also check if the Dropbox desktop app is running? You can do so by hovering over your Dropbox icon that’s next to your clock.
Let me know more!
I don't see why restarting explorer would work when restarting the whole computer did not, but I did so and it didn't fix it. The app itself is up to date and finished syncing, screenshot attached for proof: .
- Nancy
Hi from me as well, iNfeRnO B.
Have you also checked your Windows UAC levels to make sure they’re set to default (the provided link also applies in case you’re running Win10/11)?
After that, please reinstall your Dropbox app with admin privileges.
Does that seem to help at all?
Same issue. Not about the icons. The context menu for make available offline etc is missing.
- Walter
Hey kellerEVO, sorry to hear about this.
Could you please let mus know your device's exact OS version and the status and version of the Dropbox desktop app installed there as well?
If you could also send us a screenshot of the options you get when you right click on files in your Dropbox folder, I'd appreciate it.
Sorry, this didn't work.
