I can't link my macOS desktop app to the existing Dropbox folder after unlinking

[BoxedInn]

On Mac, Dropbox stopped syncing about two to three weeks ago. In my Dropbox Security settings I see two Devices with identical names, e.g., iMac.lan. (Formerly, I had the three devices allowed by the DropBox Basic plan: iMac, Macbook, and iPhone. Dropbox now complains that I'm trying to use a fourth device: the two identical links to my iMac, my Macbook Pro, and my iPhone. I unlinked my iPhone so that I could try to deal with the iMac.) I unlinked both copies of the link to my iMac, then killed and restarted Dropbox. Trying to start Dropbox, I now see this message: "There's already a folder or file named Dropbox."

I cannot use the existing file Dropbox in the default directory, which I believe is {me}/Library/CloudStorage. If I rename the existing Dropbox file and go through the kill/restart process again, I get a different error message: "Error with selected folder -- Can't create a Dropbox folder in the requested location".

So I'm stuck. I cannot use Dropbox on either my iMac (MacOS 14.5) or my Macbook Pro. Help, please.

So I cannot use Dropbox, and I cannot unlink/relink my DropBox file. I'm stuck. And, BTW, there's a possibly related symptom. DropBox also has stopped syncing with my MacBook Pro.

[Nancy]

Thanks for posting this here, @BoxedInn! 

To select your already established folder on your drive, after signing in and choosing which folders to sync, and before you click the “Open my Dropbox folder”, you should see an “Advanced Settings” link. 

When you click it, you can choose the parent folder of the already established Dropbox folder. In this case, that should be ~/Library/CloudStorage indeed (if you were previously running the Dropbox app for macOS on File Provider). Are you seeing this error if you select this directory? 

If yes, please send me a screenshot of the error you see and of the message that appears when trying to rename the existing Dropbox folder.

Keep me in the loop.

[BoxedInn]

Thank you. First, stopping and restarting Dropbox does not work unless I first go into Security and unlink the two identical links to my iMac. After I did that, I followed your advice to change the default Dropbox folder from where it is, ~/Library/CloudStorage, back to the same folder. I did this by first selecting "Other" for my directory; then choosing a second time, back to "CloudStorage". The problem is ever so slightly different: instead of first telling me that there's already a folder named Dropbox, your software jumps directly to the second problem: Error with selected folder: Can't create a DropBox folder in the requested location. And note that I'm a very, very early user of DropBox, from years ago. This is my first DropBox problem.

[Nancy]

Thanks for sending more info, @BoxedInn! Can you also attach a screenshot of the error you see on your end to have a visual? I'd also like one more screenshot of where you click right before the error appears.

You can click on the following icon to attach them here: 

[BoxedInn]

Thank you. I've been unable to verify my version of Dropbox, eg, Dropbox app for macOS on File Provider, because, when I try to follow these directions https://help.dropbox.com/installs/dropbox-for-macos-support I get stuck with Dropbox waiting to be linked to an account. MacOS' "Get Info" click on the executable tells me that Dropbox is version 202.4.5551.

And, finally, this morning I set a new record of Dropbox listing my iMac as a linked device with three identical entries.

I thank you for your help. If we can't fix the problem soon, what else can I do? How about an upgrade to a service level that lets me call for support? Some of those levels come with a free trial period, don't they?

[Walter]

Hey @BoxedInn - sorry to hear you're still having issues with this.

Could you try removing the extra devices from your account's security page and then attempt an advanced reinstall?

Let us know how it goes!

[Nancy]

Hi again, @BoxedInn, and sorry for jumping in. 

I see you had previously mentioned that, at some point, you renamed the existing Dropbox folder, correct? 

When checking with our team, they mentioned that if you were previously running the Dropbox app on File Provider (with your Dropbox folder under CloudStorage), you’d only be able to use the existing Dropbox folder again in case it hadn’t been modified/renamed in the meantime. 

Now, since the Dropbox folder was renamed at some point, I'm afraid it can no longer be relinked to your Dropbox app, so you’ll need to choose a different location instead, on which the new Dropbox folder will be created.

[BoxedInn]

Thank you. Trying. I'm stuck on step 2 of "How to run an advanced reinstall of Dropbox on your computer": Before running an advanced reinstall

• Save and quit all programs accessing files in the Dropbox folder.
• If you use selective sync, take note of the preferences you applied.

How do take note of my selective sync preferences if Dropbox will not start on my computer? I can't find them anywhere else.

[Nancy]

@BoxedInn, since it won’t be possible to use the same old Dropbox folder under CloudStorage, you don’t need to proceed with the advanced reinstall. 

While signing back into your desktop app now, are you being asked to select a new location for your Dropbox folder? If yes, you can pick another one and your files will sync there.

[BoxedInn]

Thank you. I'm confused. On my iMac, where the catastrophic failure occured, I had been working with a Dropbox file named "Dropbox" in ~/library/CloudStorage. That's the file I renamed to "Dropbox1" while trying to bring Dropbox back. Today I followed your instructions above by starting the Dropbox app, making the choice to log out a connection because I was told that I was already at my connection limit (I logged out the duplicate copy of my iMac's connection, previously discussed), and allowing the Dropbox app to rename my Dropbox folder. Nothing happened in ~/library/CloudStorage, where my Dropbox file (which no longer works as a Dropbox file) now is named "Dropbox1". Instead, in ~/, I now have a file named "Dropbox" with a date modified of today, and another file, "Dropbox (Old)" with a date modified of November 29, 2022.

Did Dropbox move my Dropbox file from ~/library/CloudStorage to my home directory ~/?

If I copy my old, dead Dropbox file ~/library/CloudStorage/Dropbox1 into what I presume is my new Dropbox file ~/Dropbox, will it sync with the cloud as in the old days?

I know I've lost information, having updated Dropbox files from my laptop which presumably never made it up to Dropbox in the cloud, then down again into my desktop. Before I copy into Dropbox from my old, dead "Dropbox1" file, is there a way from my laptop (or from a browser) to tell what it thinks are the recently modified Dropbox files? Maybe then I'll be able to look at them and spot some of the information that will be lost when I, in effect, declare my desktop's (dead) version of Dropbox, the "Dropbox1" file, as my one and only Dropbox file.

Going forward, when I have to start the Dropbox app on my iMac, will I forever have to stop and log out duplicate copies of that same iMac's Dropbox connection?