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Forum Discussion
The Dropbox desktop app is stuck on starting on Mac OS
I can't get past the "starting..." stage on the DB app. I've uninstalled, cleared everything related to DB from my computer, downloaded fresh, installed again. Everything I can think of. Always, the menu bar icon stays gray and the pulldown shows "Starting..." I've let it sit for days, no luck.
I can get to my account via dropbox.com as usual. It's the app that's not working. I've unlinked the account and relinked it. I must be missing something. FWIW, this happens on both my Macbook Pros, a new M3 and an M1.
And I've read old messages about this problem... so, a new query. Ideas please?
- Walter
Dropbox Staff
Hey there jgoshawk - sorry to hear about this.
Can you please let us know the exact OS version of your devices and the version of the Dropbox desktop app too?
Have you ensured that this is not caused by an antivirus, a firewall or some VPN/proxy setting?
Any additional information or screenshots are more than welcome!
Hi Walter,
Macbook Pro M3 Max, Sequoia OS 15.0
Macbook Pro M1, Sonoma OS 14.6.1
Dropbox.app version 209.4.3661
No antivirus active.
No VPN running.
I don't think it's a firewall issue. To test that, I just now successfully installed the app on an older Macbook Pro running Monterey OS 12.75.
I hope this helps
I have exactly the same situation/symptoms. It has been going on for a couple of months now. I could not even log into Dropbox through a browser until I figured out that I needed to deactivate my VPN and turn off all anti-virus features in my browser, which is frustrating because to use a secure file sharing service I had to lessen my overall security. So now I can log into Dropbox via a browser but even with the VPN deactivated and all anti-virus turned off, I still can't get the Desktop app to work.
Well, it's comforting to know others have the same problems. BTW, it's been happening with me for many months. I ignored DB entirely for quite a while, but now I need it again. Hoped a new computer would solve the issue, but no. It's not the machine, or the OS, or the network. Putting my hopes on the genius of DB engineers. Yup.
- DBX_Pedro
Community Manager
Hi sherlockaudio,
Thanks for sharing your feedback.
We understand how frustrating this issue is. Just to let you know the team is aware of this problem and actively is working on it.
We'll keep you all updated as we have more information to share.
We appreciate your patience in the meantime.
Chiming in to say I'm having the same issue.
I was able to install Dropbox v 208.4.5824 about 3 weeks ago on my brand new Mac Studio, running Sonoma 14.6.1.
After a reboot, I noticed the Dropbox icon was not in the menu bar. Looking in Activity Monitor, Dropbox was not running (although the "Dropbox Finder Extension" is). I tried manually launching Dropbox, and it doesn't appear to do anything. No Dropbox process appears in Act.Mon. or in the Force Quit dialog.
I tried reinstalling via Homebrew and it wanted to upgrade to 209.4.3661. That seemed to work, but launching Dropbox still exhibited the issue. I tried killing the Finder extension and relaunching Dropbox. That brought the Finder extension back up, but no main sync process. When I try using the context menu for the Finder, no options are present.
I tried rebooting, no luck. I tried doing a manual install from the website, also no. I even tried getting the manual offline installer, which gave me a DMG for Dropbox 210.3.4786. That, too, does not launch.
Please let me know if there are any diagnostics I can provide or any steps I can take. Thanks!
