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wellerpond's avatar
wellerpond
New member | Level 2
6 years ago

How can I fix the error "the application can't be opened" when it does open?

When I open dropbox I get this warning message:   The application “Dropbox.app” can’t be opened.   But then it opens without a problem. How can I get rid of this message?   Thanks!
  • Здравко's avatar
    6 years ago

    Hi wellerpond,

    Seems like you experience some permissions problems. On MAC OS there could be two parallel install, one - system wide and other - per user. From your description could be concluded one of the installs is damaged and the other works. It enough only one of them to work so everything could work as usual. To be sure everything is cleared (so no more tedious messages) you can clear everything and install the Dropbox application again. Stop/quit your application. Execute following commands in terminal (line by line):

    rm -rf ~/Library/Application\ Support/Dropbox
    rm -rf ~/Library/Dropbox
    rm -rf /Applications/Dropbox.app
    sudo chmod -R a+w /Library/DropboxHelperTools
    sudo rm -rf /Library/DropboxHelperTools

    Will be ask for your password (sudo). Now everything is like Dropbox has never been installed (exception is your data - they are in safe). Download and install latest stable release again (preferably offline installer).

    Hope this helps.

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