I can no longer open Dropbox from the icon pinned to the taskbar, nor from the .exe in the folder

[Robbie1]

Starting today, I tried to open Dropbox that is pinned to the taskbar. It wouldn't open. I opened the program folder and double-clicked on the .exe file. It also would not open Dropbox.  I uninstalled and reinstalled with same issue. I can open it from a desktop icon, but why will it not open from the executable file in the program folder which means I cannot pin it to the taskbar. I'm running Windows 11 Pro 23H2 with latest build.

[GrumpGrump]

 We are having the same problem across multiple computers. A fix confirmed suggestion would be greatly appreciated as one of our users strongly dislikes using file explorer to access dropbox (which still works). Looks like an advanced reinstall is currently the best fix suggestion? 

[JCCantrell]

I am having the same problem (at the same time) as originally reported by Robbie1.  I have this problem on all my Windows10 and Windows11 computers.  I have reviewed the total thread (as it exists at the time of my post (Thursday, Dec 14, 2023 - 1420 EST).  No solution proposed has corrected the problem on my machines.  Monitoring for solutions.  Thank you.

[Eric in CA]

Meagan, it looks like you guys at Dropbox have a major issue to solve for just about everyone. Lots of people with this problem and it makes everything 10 times harder. AT this point using Dropbox is next to useless.

Hope your technical team can figure this out. Eric in CA

[babaluzza]

Hi Jay,

I'm having the same problem, unable to open from the icon on the task bar. I tried Robbie's fix below and it didn't work for me. Is there a fix coming soon? I rely on this app a lot for my work and it's now a struggle. Thanks.

[rfilkin]

I just scrolled through all the comments on this topic, no viable solution so far.  The only workable solution so far is via the Dropbox website. When I click the icon on the menu, nothing happens. There is no icon in the system tray by the clock, when there was before a reinstall, Dropbox would not open anyway.  Dropbox or Microsoft changed something because there is no reason that access via the icon should suddenly stop working. I am far too busy to continue to wrestle with this problem. As Peter finch said in "Network"... "I'm mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore" (google it)

[rfilkin]

Now I discovered yet another error!!! When I try to access the downloads folder on my laptop I get a dropbox error!!! I am so fed up with what has become a crappy product!!

I tried changing the path and get this:

[Randyf]

I have wrestled with various Dropbox issues for hours. I have found a solution and after a little more testing, I will be canceling my Dropbox account. Too bad it has come to this after being a Dropbox customer for so many years

[Walter]

Hi all, thanks for your reports so far and your patience while our team is looking into this.

A new version of the desktop app just came out, so could you please give it a go from this page and let us know if the issue persists? 

[GrumpGrump]

I have installed the updated version ( just by running it, not by uninstalling dropbox first) 

One one windows 10 and one windows 11 computer - the start menu and system trays link still do not work on either computer but the desktop shortcut does work. I suspect the desktop shortcuts work because they target the dropbox file folder location and not the app location. Thank you for working on fixing this. 

[Sam DBX]

Hi everyone,

Jumping in to clarify a few things:

Our Stable Build 188.4.6302 updated Windows shortcuts to directly point to the Dropbox folder, as the current ones no longer open or add files to it.

• Users who have shortcuts originally created by Dropbox, should have no problems. 
• In some cases, if you copied, renamed or moved the shortcut Dropbox created, these can’t be updated and will no longer work, as it's no longer managed by the Dropbox desktop app.
•  The shortcut in the windows start menu only starts the Dropbox app and does not open the Dropbox folder.                                                                                                                 

Workaround:

• You can recreate a new shortcut: shift + right click the Dropbox folder, and click "Send to > Desktop (create shortcut)", and then remove the " - Shortcut" at the end of the shortcut. Note: The recreated desktop shortcut name should not be changed. 
• To create a shortcut for the Windows start menu, you can Pin to Start your Dropbox folder 

Next steps:

We plan to make this easier by accessing the support section in the preferences pane (alt + h in the account tab), and clicking "Create desktop shortcut" button. We’ll keep you updated on this.

Thanks,

Sam