Multiplers Errors with Finder after Dropbox Upgrade - Mac M1

[cquintero1]

A few days ago I installed the new dropbox update after being prompted to do so. 

It's been a nightmare since then. After all my folders were moved to some new secure folder on my mac, I get nothing but weird issues with dropbox and finder

• Finder freezes and can't save a file. Need to kill the process in activity monitor
• Can't open files through Finder. Need to kill the process in activity monitor
• Dropbox sometimes can be opened but doesn't start. Need to restart 

None of these issues occur if I quit dropbox, but once I start dropbox again, it's nothing but headache. 

I'm on a Mac M1 Venture 13.3.1 and Dropbox v173.3.6706

If this persists one more day I'm uninstalling and cancelling my account. Have been a loyal dropbox user for over a decade but this is not worth the headache. 

[Megan]

Hi @cquintero1, sorry to hear about that! 

In the issues you mentioned, you also said that Dropbox sometimes doesn't start. Do you get any specific error messages? 

As for all the Finder problems you mentioned, do you notice this behavior only for your Dropbox files and folders, or all of your content locally? 

Let me know more!

[cquintero1 · Accepted solution]

Just wanted to give an update here. After 5 days of pain and errors the problem seems to have resolved itself. 

I'm not sure what dropbox was doing in the background this whole time....at one point Dropbox used up my entire hard drive space and I only had 1 gb of free space left. Then, suddenly, it stopped and I had 50gb+ free again and I could suddenly open files without errors again. 

Dropbox is still very slow to start (seems to hang on "updating files" for a long time) but it does now start consistently. 

[mike1234]

I am having the same or a very similar issue. I cannot open files without MacOS finder freezing. Have restarted multiple times and issue has repeated. Now Dropbox will not start. I'm running MacOS 13.4. Please help.

[Jay]

Hi @mike1234, could you clarify exactly what happens when you try to load the Dropbox desktop application? What is the status of the app in the menu bar when you click it?

This will help me to assist further!

[mike1234]

Hi Jay, thanks for the response. Here is the loop I'm in. In order to regain functionality of Finder so I could get any work done yesterday, I removed Dropbox from the "Open at Login" list and restarted my computer. When I open the Dropbox desktop application, I first receive a message that it has been added to "Open at Login" and the Dropbox icon appears in the menu bar. When I click it, it is stuck in a loop that says "Starting..." and the icon remains gray in its unconnected state. If I attempt to access any local files in Dropbox, Finder freezes and I'm unable to open any file. If I attempt to restart the computer and allow Dropbox to load at login, it gets stuck in the same place with the same result. The only way to get out of the doom loop is to quit Dropbox, remove it from autologin, force quit Finder, restart my computer, and now I've been moving the files I want to use out of the Dropbox location on my computer just in case so I can work with it. Note I have Firewall turned off in settings per an earlier post and that has not changed the outcome. Let me know if you have other recommendations to try.

[mike1234]

One more thing I forgot to mention. Even if I quit Dropbox and restart my computer, I'm unable to open or move any locally stored files from the Dropbox location without Finder freezing. I am currently downloading files from the web and creating separate local versions so I can continue to work.

[Jay]

Have you tried reinstalling the Dropbox desktop application, without uninstalling it first, using this link?

[mike1234]

Just tried that and no luck, still getting hung up in "Starting..."

[Jay]

Thanks for the info, in order to look into this matter in more detail, would it be possible to reach out to the email associated with your forum profile?