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
Help! "Couldn't start Dropbox" error (Mac & Big Sur)
Dropbox won't start on my MacBook Air (13" 2018), with Big Sur 11.3.1.
Have uninstalled dropbox and reinstalled. Same error
Uninstalled again, advanced re-install. Same error
AFAIK, vanilla ins...
Ran these changes, but no different.
Tried once more, after double-checking firewall off.
uninstall DB
reboot
delete DB folders from local storage, and empty bin
reboot
search and delete every 'dropbox' named file in ~/library
reboot
advanced reinstall
reboot
logoff DB on webclient
reboot
start DB
login
accept all vanilla (recommended) options
and it started and seems to be sync-ing correctly.
Not sure what changed this time around, but DB seems to be working again.
Thanks for your help.
Walter
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHey there prc87, thanks for using Dropbox and welcome to our Community!
From what I understand it looks like your Home directory is “locked”. Can you please do the following steps to fix this?
- Right-click on your Home folder → /Users/{your username}
- Select "Get Info" from the menu
- Uncheck the "Locked" checkbox.
If you have certain folders intentionally locked, then after doing the above you can go ahead and re-lock any folders within your Home directory that aren't the Dropbox folder.
Let me know how you get on, Peter!
Thanks Walter
I checked as you suggested.
The home directory “locked” status is UNCHECKED. Also, none of the enclosed folders are locked as far as I can tell—and the Dropbox folder has been deleted too, as part of the advanced re-installed.
As a test, I checked the Locked status. Rebooted. Unchecked it. Rebooted. Then tried to open Dropbox. Same error persists, unfortunately
- Walter
Could you the try disabling any antivirus or firewall you may have and try again prc87?
Otherwise, you could also try the following:- Click on the apple icon in the top left hand corner of your screen.
- Select "System Preferences..."
- Then "Security & Privacy."
- Select the Privacy tab.
- Select "Files and Folders."
- Under Dropbox, ensure that all the folders are checked.
To make changes, you will need to click on the lock icon, and enter your macOS password.
Now, attempt to restart the Dropbox desktop app.
Let me know if this helped, Peter!Thanks. Will check in the morning.
Ran these changes, but no different.
Tried once more, after double-checking firewall off.
uninstall DB
reboot
delete DB folders from local storage, and empty bin
reboot
search and delete every 'dropbox' named file in ~/library
reboot
advanced reinstall
reboot
logoff DB on webclient
reboot
start DB
login
accept all vanilla (recommended) options
and it started and seems to be sync-ing correctly.
Not sure what changed this time around, but DB seems to be working again.
Thanks for your help.
Had the same problem. This worked for me. Did not have to reboot computer or reinstall anything.
Thank you so much- this step of selecting files and folders finally fixed my issue!
