Menu bar icon not appearing

[skiblues]

I used to be a Basic member but am now a member of a Family Plan.  I am not able to get the Dropbox icon on my menu bar on a new Mac - Monterey 12.01.  I have quit and trashed the application and have reinstalled a couple of times, but nothing.  I can't for the life of me get the icon on my Menu Bar.  Does the Menu Bar have a space limitation?  I would think not.  Any help out there?

[Jay · Accepted solution]

Hi @skiblues, thanks for joining the Community.

If you're not on a Dropbox Basic plan with more than 3 devices connected, could you try an advanced reinstall of the app using the steps in this link?

Keep me updated with any progress!

Mod note: edited to update link in post. [last updated 2023]

[skiblues]

Jay - thanks for getting back to me.  So I found out that we are limited to the number of icons in the Menu Bar.  I deleted one that I did not need and then the Dropbox icon showed up.  So it turned out to be just a space issue on the Menu Bar.  I am now all good.  

Thanks again.

[Mark Siegel]

Since upgrading from Mac OS Mojave on an old MacBook to Monterey on a new MacBook Pro 14, the Dropbox icon no longer appears on my menu bar.  I re-downloaded and installed the Dropbox desktop app.  That didn't help.  And when I try to open the Dropbox app, either from my Applications folder or from the Control Panel, it only opens my Dropbox folder of all my files.

What is going on?

[Megan]

Hi @Mark Siegel, I'd be happy to look into this for you! 

I've merged your post into this thread because it's similar to what the OP mentioned.

Can you take a look at what has already been suggested previously and let me know if you have any questions? 

Thanks a bunch!

[Mister Boh]

I have exactly the same issue!

[Mark Siegel]

Thanks to everyone for all the replies.  As @skiblues mentioned, I also learned that Monterey allows only a limited number of icons on the menu bar.  I just updated to the latest Monterey (Version 12.3) and the issue is the same.

I did discover what I thought was another option:  If you open a Finder window, under the View dropdown menu, you'll see "Customize Toolbar...".  That opens a window that gives you the variety of icons, including Dropbox, that you can simply drag to the toolbar... not the top toolbar, but the toolbar of the Finder windows.  That looked promising, but unfortunately, clicking on that icon only opens my local Dropbox folder, not the former desktop app that included the link to my Dropbox files on the web.

My workaround solution:  I'm not using the desktop app.  I simply added my Dropbox Files url to my top Favorites bar on my browsers.  A one-click solution that takes me directly to my files.

[Mark Siegel]

I found the solution!

Since the new MacBook Pros (I have a 2021, running OS Monterey) have limited room on the menu bar, I thought maybe if I took of some apps that I don't really need, it would allow room for ones I do -- like Dropbox.

First I went to my Settings, selected "Dock & Menu Bar", and click through the list of applications.  Each one will have a
"Show in Menu Bar" box to check or un-check.  I unchecked a few that I don't use often enough to need them in the Menu Bar.

But... it still wasn't enough.  One icon up there puzzled me:  One that looks like an old telephone handset, called "Modem".  I have no modem hardware or software connected, so it had no use.  But that Modem was not listed in the "Dock & Menu Bar" settings.  So... how to get rid of it?

I did a Google search and was directed to an Apple Community discussion that had the answer:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3330974

The answer is simple:

"Hold down the command key and drag it out of the menu bar."

Which I did.  And magically a couple of new icons appeared that used to be on my old Menu Bar... including DropBox!  And it works perfectly, just like the old one.

[Mark Siegel]

Megan:  I just posted a reply in this thread that I found the solution!

I'm not sure if everyone who had the same problem will see it in the thread, so I'm sending this to you as Moderator to make sure it's visible to everyone.  This was my post:

I found the solution!

Since the new MacBook Pros (I have a 2021, running OS Monterey) have limited room on the menu bar, I thought maybe if I took off some apps that I don't really need, it would allow room for ones I do -- like Dropbox.

First I went to my Settings, selected "Dock & Menu Bar", and clicked through the list of applications.  Each has a "Show in Menu Bar" box to check or un-check.  I unchecked a few that I don't use often enough to need them in the Menu Bar.

But... it still wasn't enough.  One icon up there puzzled me:  One that looks like an old telephone handset, called "Modem".  I have no modem hardware or software connected, so it had no use.  But that Modem was not listed in the "Dock & Menu Bar" settings.  So... how to get rid of it?

I did a Google search and was directed to an Apple Community discussion that had the answer:

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/3330974

The answer is simple:

"Hold down the command key and drag it out of the menu bar."

Which I did.  And magically a couple of new icons appeared that used to be on my old Menu Bar... including DropBox!  And it works perfectly, just like the old one.

[reggoboy]

I'm a paying customer of the 3TB tier of Dropbox. I have been going back and forth with Dropbox support for nearly a month, and they are unable to get my Dropbox icon back in my menu bar. It's exasperating. I have a ton of free menu-bar space.