How to stop Dropbox from starting on startup

tiredof · Feb 23, 2013

I had dropbox active at one point and stopped using it. Now the welcome to dropbox (setup) screen comes up every time I start the computer. If I stopped using it why the heck it is asking me to start it again every time. It is past annoying now. There are no settings that I can find that stops this. Why?

I am ready to throw this computer out the window.

Thank You.

OS X 10.8.2

GGJstudios · Feb 23, 2013

Check the following locations for apps that automatically launch on startup and delete any you don't need/want:

System Preferences > Accounts > yourusername > Login Items
(Lion and ML users: System Preferences > Users & Groups > yourusername > Login Items)
/Library/LaunchAgents/
(Lion and ML users: In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder > then enter the path above)
~/Library/LaunchAgents/
(Lion and ML users: In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder > then enter the path above)
/Library/StartupItems/
(Lion and ML users: In Finder, click Go > Go to Folder > then enter the path above)

Weaselboy · Feb 23, 2013

tiredof said:
I had dropbox active at one point and stopped using it. Now the welcome to dropbox (setup) screen comes up every time I start the computer. If I stopped using it why the heck it is asking me to start it again every time. It is past annoying now. There are no settings that I can find that stops this. Why?

I am ready to throw this computer out the window.

Thank You.

OS X 10.8.2

Go to this screen in System Prefs and you will see Dropbox listed. Just select it then click the minus at the bottom to remove it.

tiredof · Feb 23, 2013

My understanding for the start items is that only hides the window. That does not stop it from starting up, that will still take up system resources.

ls shows

cd StartupItems
ls
MySQLCOM PenTabletDriver VirtualBox

cd LaunchAgents
ls
com.seagate.SeagateStorageGauge.plist com.symantec.uiagent.application.plist
com.symantec.errorreporter-periodicagent.plist

What is your Command: cd ~/Library/LaunchAgents
What is your Command: ls
com.adobe.ARM.202f4087f2bbde52e3ac2df389f53a4f123223c9cc56a8fd83a6f7ae.plist
com.apple.AddressBook.ScheduledSync.PHXCardDAVSource.8E765412-5C14-4AF3-AA79-A9C99B06B2A8.plist
com.apple.CSConfigDotMacCert-appledev@me.com-SharedServices.Agent.plist
com.apple.FolderActions.enabled.plist
com.apple.FolderActions.folders.plist
com.facebook.videochat.AppleHarry.plist
opt.plist
org.virtualbox.vboxwebsrv.plist
What is your Command:

I just saw the ~/Library/LaunchAgents and tired that and no Dropbox

Weaselboy · Feb 23, 2013

tiredof said:
My understanding for the start items is that only hides the window. That does not stop it from starting up, that will still take up system resources.

Checking the box would leave the app launching and hide it... that is correct. What I am saying is if you click Dropbox in the screen then click the minus at the bottom (my second arrow) it will remove Dropbox from this launch list altogether and fix your issue.

tiredof said:
ls shows

cd StartupItems
ls
MySQLCOM PenTabletDriver VirtualBox

cd LaunchAgents
ls
com.seagate.SeagateStorageGauge.plist com.symantec.uiagent.application.plist
com.symantec.errorreporter-periodicagent.plist

cd LaunchAgents
ls
com.seagate.SeagateStorageGauge.plist com.symantec.uiagent.application.plist
com.symantec.errorreporter-periodicagent.plist

You can ignore all those folders. Dropbox does not use any of those folders/methods to launch.

tiredof · Feb 23, 2013

Your kidding?

Thats what it does? Damn.

This box is showing you 3 different settings then?

1. So anything on that list is what will automatically start up.
2. Checking the box hides it from sight on startup
3. clicking the minus then deletes it from start up.

Sheesh, THANK YOU!!!!! for explaining that. It has been driving me crazy. Sometimes the simplest solution is the correct answer.

Since the post I have signed up for dropbox and clicked on the blue box in the upper right menu bar. I stopped it from start up (AND yes it is now not in that list.)

How can I un-sign up for Dropbox so my information is not out there in netland? That is what started this whole thing. A friend was sharing files with me and when we were done I got rid of the dropbox. (dont remember how I did that.) I dont want to mess this thing up again.

It may not even matter being that this is not starting and I am not signing in. THANK YOU.

Weaselboy · Feb 23, 2013

tiredof said:
Thats what it does? Damn.

This box is showing you 3 different settings then?

1. So anything on that list is what will automatically start up.
2. Checking the box hides it from sight on startup
3. clicking the minus then deletes it from start up.

You go it! Yes to all three.

tiredof said:
How can I un-sign up for Dropbox so my information is not out there in netland?

You can go to this link to delete your Dropbox account if you want.

I really like the service though. I have all my documents synced to Dropbox and use their iPhone app to access documents on the go.

tiredof · Feb 23, 2013

Thank You

It may be a great service. I dont like having my personal documents on someone else's server. I run my own server and that is all I need.

Thank you for the help today. I see where I went wrong. I had partial information from other various posts and didnt think it through for the + and -.

Weaselboy · Feb 23, 2013

tiredof said:
It may be a great service. I dont like having my personal documents on someone else's server. I run my own server and that is all I need.

Thank you for the help today. I see where I went wrong. I had partial information from other various posts and didnt think it through for the + and -.

Fair enough. I understand your concern. Glad you got things figured out today.

mattspace · Jul 24, 2014

It keeps re-adding itself

Re-opening an old thread just to note that I've tried this, and once you've Quit Dropbox, and then removed it from the Login Items prefpane, If you launch it again manually, it re-adds itself to Login Items.

GGJstudios · Jul 25, 2014

mattspace said:
Re-opening an old thread just to note that I've tried this, and once you've Quit Dropbox, and then removed it from the Login Items prefpane, If you launch it again manually, it re-adds itself to Login Items.

It won't do that if you uncheck that option in Dropbox preferences.

mattspace · Sep 6, 2014

*facepalm* of course - never occurred to me to look for preferences under the menubar icon.

thanks

n106fa · Nov 17, 2014

Bad App Design

mattspace said:
*facepalm* of course - never occurred to me to look for preferences under the menubar icon.

thanks

You shouldn't have to. When an OS offers a centralized place for managing a particular setting, app developers should respect and honor that function of the OS. What's especially obnoxious about Dropbox is that it replaces itself as a Login Item every time it launches.

GGJstudios · Nov 17, 2014

n106fa said:
What's especially obnoxious about Dropbox is that it replaces itself as a Login Item every time it launches.

As already stated in my last post 4 months ago, no, it doesn't, if you change the setting as described in that post.

Nermal · Nov 17, 2014

GGJstudios said:
As already stated in my last post 4 months ago, no, it doesn't, if you change the setting as described in that post.

But he's quite right (in my opinion) that you shouldn't have to change a setting. The default should be to respect OS preferences, not override them.

I have the same opinion about websites that register push notifications without asking for your permission (even MR does this, or at least used to) but I digress...

GGJstudios · Nov 17, 2014

Nermal said:
But he's quite right (in my opinion) that you shouldn't have to change a setting. The default should be to respect OS preferences, not override them.

I agree that you shouldn't have to, but I'm so used to setting up app preferences right after installation that it's never been a problem for me.

blooperz · Nov 17, 2014

easiest method to stop any app form auto starting is to right click it's icon in the launch bar on the bottom of the screen --> options--> uncheck "launch at login"

GGJstudios · Nov 17, 2014

blooperz said:
easiest method to stop any app form auto starting is to right click it's icon in the launch bar on the bottom of the screen --> options--> uncheck "launch at login"

That won't help if the app, like Dropbox, has a preference that overrides that setting. Unless you disable it in Dropbox settings, as soon as you launch it, it will recheck to launch at login.

blooperz · Nov 17, 2014

GGJstudios said:
That won't help if the app, like Dropbox, has a preference that overrides that setting. Unless you disable it in Dropbox settings, as soon as you launch it, it will recheck to launch at login.

Oh that makes sense, sorry I haven't tried it with dropbox, just used that method for steam

lauram · Jan 12, 2015

dropbox help

Thanks a lot for your Feb 24, 2013 01:54 AM posting about Dropbox - it solved my problem. Appreciatively, lauram

Dana Greyson · Nov 27, 2016

Weaselboy said:
Go to this screen in System Prefs and you will see Dropbox listed. Just select it then click the minus at the bottom to remove it.

On 10.10.5 the Users & Groups screen looks different and does not include DropBox. However I have the same problem as WeaselBoy except that I do want to keep DropBox, only for what I want not to sync Photos to it. I have very limited wifi data and DropBox is a killer as I have a huge and growing photo library. Advise?

How to stop Dropbox from starting on startup

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