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ajborson's avatar
ajborson
Helpful | Level 7
3 years ago

Windows 11 Upgrade and cannot get Dropbox to work properly

I recently upgraded my PC desktop to Windows 11.  Dropbox worked perfectly in Windows 10, and when I upgraded my laptop to 11, it was seamless.   On the desktop, I can access Dropbox through the web,...
Desktop and Web
desktop app
Setting up the apps
Sync and upload
Syncing
Windows OS
  • ajborson's avatar
    ajborson
    3 years ago

    So...

    The secret (as is sadly so often the case) is a re-start.

    Once I did that, I was able to get the full Dropbox app to install, and now it looks like I can access the Dropbox files correctly.

    I don't understand this, but it did the trick.

    thanks to Megan and Jay for your help!

    Andy

ajborson's avatar
ajborson
Helpful | Level 7

Yes.  I can open the web-based Dropbox, and it's up-to-date.  The problem occurs when I try to either access a Dropbox file from one of my Office applications (Excel, Word), or open a file from the web-based Dropbox into the Office application (in which case it does not load up, or I get the non-updated file from before I upgraded to Windows 11).

Jay's avatar
Jay
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
3 years ago
The link I provided should give you the download to install the Dropbox desktop application. 

Have you disabled installations from outside the Microsoft store?
  • ajborson's avatar
    ajborson
    Helpful | Level 7
    3 years ago

    I haven't purposefully done anything about downloads, so it's whatever the default is.  

    The Dropbox app does download, but it's when I try to install it that it fails.  Thoughts?

    • Megan's avatar
      Megan
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      3 years ago
      Hey ajborson, could you send us the error you get when trying to open the files on your end? 

      Also, in order for you to install our full Dropbox desktop app, you'd need to follow Microsoft's steps, in order to get out of the S mode on Windows 11. 
      • ajborson's avatar
        ajborson
        Helpful | Level 7
        3 years ago

        The error message is:  "Unable to extract the activation files.  See the link below for instructions to perform an advanced reinstall."  

        This is the link:  Dropbox installer failed to start | Dropbox Help

        Most of the suggestions don't seem to apply to my situation (as everything worked fine until I upgraded to Windows 11 on my desktop).

        I am running anti-virus software (Webroot) that does not block installs without giving me the option to over-ride it, so I don't think that's an issue.  

        The link you sent me for getting out of S mode applied to Windows 10, not Windows 11, and I could not make sense of how to apply them to what I saw in my now Windows 11.  If you think this really might be the issue, can you provide any instructions about what to do?

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