You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.

Forum Discussion

PD88's avatar
PD88
Helpful | Level 5
6 years ago

Smart sync menu missing on Mac

I use smart sync on my work laptop (Windows) without no problem.

On my personal Mac computer I cannot get it to work. When I right-click the dropbox folders I wish to smart sync, no dropbox options show up, and also not the smart sync one:/

  • I am the admin of my mac computer.
  • I have enabled smart sync on my online account (and it works on my work computer)
  • I have checked Settings-> Security and Privacy on my Mac and there is no Dropbox button to allow anything - the page is just blank.

Any suggestions for next steps?

  • PD88's avatar
    PD88
    6 years ago

    Hi Daphne 

    Thanks for getting back to me.

    I somehow managed to fix it:)

    After ensuring I had enabled smart sync on my online account, I went into the dropbpox icon at the top menu bar -> Preferences -> Sync -> and set the smart sync to "Online only". Now the option to smart sync is showing up on my folders.

  • Daphne's avatar
    Daphne
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    Hey there PD88,

    As a first step, do you see this issue persist if you restart your Mac device? Restarting the computer will reload the Dropbox visual elements as well as refresh the Finder window.

    If the issue persists, can you check that the desktop app is indeed running on your Mac device since you're not seeing any Dropbox related options. You should see the Dropbox icon in your menu bar when the app is running, if you already see it there then please let me know what the sync status is showing.

    Finally, are you using a third-party file browser or the native Finder window when you're viewing your files?

    Let me know what you find - Thanks!

    • PD88's avatar
      PD88
      Helpful | Level 5

      Hi Daphne 

      Thanks for getting back to me.

      I somehow managed to fix it:)

      After ensuring I had enabled smart sync on my online account, I went into the dropbpox icon at the top menu bar -> Preferences -> Sync -> and set the smart sync to "Online only". Now the option to smart sync is showing up on my folders.

      • Daphne's avatar
        Daphne
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

        Hey PD88,

        I'm glad to hear that everything is working correctly for you now! It does seem a little strange that the steps you mentioned seemed to resolve the issue, since this setting is to have new files that sync to your desktop set automatically as online only. :thinking:

        I really appreciate you getting back to me with your update though, and hope you have a great day ahead.

        Thanks!

About Apps and Installations

Have a question about a Dropbox app or installation? Reach out to the Dropbox Community and get solutions, help, and advice from members.

Need more support

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!