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Forum Discussion
Lost access to Desktop folder on Mac when I downloaded Dropbox, and now can't access.
I've lost access to the Desktop, Documents and Downloads file on my mac - help??
I just set up a new Dropbox account with a different email. When it asked whether I wanted to sync/back-up Desktop, Documents and Downloads folders, I said no, because when I did this with a previous account, this caused problems. I thought that this would mean that my Desktop files etc would just remain on my hard drive, and I would have a Dropbox folder with things I wanted to back up to the cloud.
I just set up a new Dropbox account with a different email. When it asked whether I wanted to sync/back-up Desktop, Documents and Downloads folders, I said no, because when I did this with a previous account, this caused problems. I thought that this would mean that my Desktop files etc would just remain on my hard drive, and I would have a Dropbox folder with things I wanted to back up to the cloud.
But this has caused all the icons to disappear from my Desktop!
Luckily the files are still there when I search for them. When I got to Desktop folder in Finder and click on it, a message says 'The operation can’t be completed because the original item for “Desktop” can’t be found.'
Logging out of Dropbox didn't help.
Help???
- Megan
Dropbox Staff
Hi amberprawn, let's jump right into this!
Can you have a look at these steps, and check if the feature is enabled on your device? If it is, can you disable it?
Also, feel free to send me some screenshots of the error you receive on your end, since that'd be interesting to see.
Looking forward to hearing back from you!
Hi Megan, first of all thank you for helping.
Do you need me to disable the Dropbox Backup?
Attached I've made some screenshots, where you can see that the desktop is locked.
In the finder, I can't enable Desktop and Dokuments, also a screenshot.
- Megan
Hi bahartug, thank you so much for the screenshots!
Can I trouble you, and ask what the first screenshot reads? Also, are you able to see Documents, Desktop and Downloads only in Dropbox or in the original paths on your Mac?
Also, what do you wish to achieve here? To disable Backup?
Help! Downloaded Dropbox and promptly lost everything on my desktop! I'm using a MacBook Pro with up to date Monterey OS. Now I remember why I previously vowed never to use dropbox again - it steals everything and the customer support is abysmal!
Please help, my desktop items show up under Finder but my desktop screen is blank
Paul
Hi, couple days ago while i was working on my laptop, out of hell all my desktop and documents was gone. I did nothing but everything disappeared.
I have a macbook, so a talked about 3 hours now with apple support, and end the end they told me that this is a dropbox problem.
Alltough I don't use dropbox so often, it is installed on my macbook. On my dropbox itself I have very old data which is just saved there since years. For my laptop I don't have a back up there.
Nevertheless, now I can open my documents file nor my desktop. I can't save anything there everything is locked. Even the alias.
As I wrote above, we tried everything and it should be a dropbox problem. I want my data back which deleted themselfes out of nothing.
Kindly,
Bahar
- Megan
Hi bahartug, let's look into this!
It sounds like you have enabled our Computer Backup at some point, and time. If you check your Backup page online, what do you see there?
Also, just to make sure we're on the same page, are you now able to see the Documents, Desktop and Downloads paths at their original places on your device?
Let me know more, and we'll take it from there.
Please help. I have a Dropbox Plus account and use a MacBook Air running Ventura 13.0.1. My entire desktop disappeared from my local Mac! I had recently opened every file on my desktop to ensure a local copy was kept on my Mac. Now, today, I was deleting a file folder from Dropbox and ALL my desktop icons disappeared. The files still exist under my username desktop on Dropbox, but I have not been able to get those icons back on my desktop screen.
Any answers?- Megan
Hi TexAK, let's jump right into this!
First of all, it sounds like you enabled our Backup feature. The first thing we need to clarify, is whether Backup is still enabled on your end.
Can you try to access your Backup page online, and let me know what you see there? Also, when you visit your account online, are you able to see your desktop files?
Let me know more, and we'll take it from there!
Thank you. I did disable the Backup feature a couple days ago.
Do you want me to check with the web version of DB or the DB app on my Mac?
WAIT... It was YOU?!?! DROPBOX?! You locked me out of my own computer?? I've been pulling my hair out over this, and it was Dropbox that locked me out of my own computer?! Why? For what possible purpose would you design your solution to do this??
- Walter
Hey ak_alpenglow, sorry to hear about this.
Can you please let us know some additional information about the issue you're having so that we can assist further?
Omg I'm just figuring this out too. Did you ever resolve? I'm at a loss of how dropbox has taken over my desktop, downloads and documents. Everything is set to not back up and its still taking over the pathway of my desktop. My actual "desktop" folder in my Mac has different files..this is infuriating
- I did. I eventually got a talk to your dropbox engineer to help work this out with me. There were a lot of terminal commands in about two weeks of work.
