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enjayare's avatar
enjayare
Explorer | Level 3
6 years ago
Solved

Locked folder that can't be removed?

Hello Forum members,

I have a folder that was sent to me by a client a couple of years ago that I can't remove from my Dropbox. The folder has a grey padlock on the bottom left corner and also an X in a red circle on the bottom right corner - see screen shot. I am using a Mac with OS Mojave 10.14.6

Can anyone advise how to remove this folder as I dont have authority to unlock it.

 

  • Здравко's avatar
    Здравко
    6 years ago

    enjayare, may be something else have happened. Probably immutable flag have been set. If so, you can trow it out using: "sudo chflags nouchg /Users/njrcon/Dropbox/Tender\ -\ 160\ Brook\ St\,\ Coogee" and/or "sudo chflags noschg /Users/njrcon/Dropbox/Tender\ -\ 160\ Brook\ St\,\ Coogee". Try it, just to be sure.

    Finally give the result from "ls -lO /Users/njrcon/Dropbox/Tender\ -\ 160\ Brook\ St\,\ Coogee" or just take a look on get info window to check is "Locked" is still checked.

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

    Hey enjayare, thanks for the screenshot, definitely provides a better understanding of your concern.

    In general, the red circle with the x means that something is wrong, and Dropbox isn’t syncing this folder

    For this reason, could you please check if the desktop app is running by locating the Dropbox icon that should be next to your computer's clock?

    If you don't find it, it means that the desktop app isn't running and thus not syncing. In this case, please manually relaunch it from your applications menu. 

    If you do see it, could you please send me a screenshot (without any personal info) of what it reads when you hover over it?

    Let me know how it goes!

      • Здравко's avatar
        Здравко
        Legendary | Level 20

        Hi enjayare,

        The problem is not in the application. Seems you have changed access rights to that folder (probably by mistake). Fix the permissions (through folder settings) and lets hope everything will be fine. :wink:

        Hope this helps.

  • ARGPVA's avatar
    ARGPVA
    Explorer | Level 3

    Hi - I have 3 locked folders on my Mac desktop that are no longer on Dropbox.com. I can't delete them - even with Terminal - and they have been synching for months. I've already uninstalled and re-installed Dropbox. Any ideas for deleting the folders from my desktop?

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

      Hi ARGPVA, thanks for messaging today!

       

      Are these files locked by the OS, and are you able to unlock in the Finder settings?

       

      Could you forward a screenshot of the folders in Finder, and also what you see when you use ‘Get info’ on one of the folders.

       

      Keep me posted!

      • ARGPVA's avatar
        ARGPVA
        Explorer | Level 3

        Hi, thanks for the reponse. No they don't seem to be locked by the OS. When I open up info for the folder on Finder, I don't have the option of unlocking it.