Issues with Dropbox after upgrading to Monterey 12.1

[Tozovac]

Dropbox won't work after upgrading my MBA M1 to Monterey 12.1

I followed Dropbox's instructions for a clean install, and no luck.

Each time I get the error notification:

Couldn't start Dropbox.
This is usually because of a permissions error. Storing your home folder on a network share can also cause an error.
Please contact Dropbox support with the following info for help:
(text file, that I forwarded to Dropbox help to see what they say).

I recall having a similar issue when updating my Mac mini M1 to 12.1 but following dropbox's instructions for a clean install fixed things.

Any advice?

 

[Tozovac]

Got a reply from Dropbox, in case this helps others. It fixed my issue:

From what I gather by your description, you are getting an error message during the startup on the Dropbox desktop application.

With the new macOS Monterey update (macOS 12.0 and above), some stricter permissions have been enforced by Apple which have probably led to the issue you are experiencing. Can I have you perform the following steps and tell me if this resolves the issue?

1. Click on the Apple icon in the top left hand corner of your screen
2. Select "System Preferences..."
3. Then "Security & Privacy"
4. Select the Privacy tab
5. Select "Full Disk Access"
6. 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)
7. Repeat these steps under 'Files and Folders' and 'Accessibility'
8. Once you've completed this, please attempt to restart the Dropbox desktop app

 

[PeterLC]

Dropbox appears to run fine on my MBP M1 Max with Monterey 12.1 however I have to manually load Dropbox each time I start my computer. Using System Preferences > Users & Groups > Me as the User (Admin) > Login Items and adding Dropbox to the list does not STAY there if I logout, i.e.: it disappears from the list and is not there on the next login. I've tried it with Firewall Off but still have no success. The two other 'perpetual' items stay there: OneDrive and Keeper Password Manager. Can anyone offer a clue? Needless to say, this never happened before migrating from Mojave on my old MB Air.

 

[Jim-Ratliff]

Dropbox appears to run fine on my MBP M1 Max with Monterey 12.1 however I have to manually load Dropbox each time I start my computer. Using System Preferences > Users & Groups > Me as the User (Admin) > Login Items and adding Dropbox to the list does not STAY there if I logout, i.e.: it disappears from the list and is not there on the next login. I've tried it with Firewall Off but still have no success. The two other 'perpetual' items stay there: OneDrive and Keeper Password Manager. Can anyone offer a clue? Needless to say, this never happened before migrating from Mojave on my old MB Air.

It's not just Dropbox that has this problem. I have this problem as well with Alfred, Bartender, Keyboard Maestro (Keyboard Maestro Engine), and Sync (the client for Sync.com). Other apps, however, successfully launch automatically; e.g., TextExpander and BetterTouchTool.

I thought it was something corrupt in my user account, but I created a clean user account and still have the issue. So I'm happy to hear from you that it's not just me.

I've written an AppleScript app to launch the applications that I want launched automatically. Then I add the AppleScript app to Login Items, and that works fine.

 

[MLivermoreDesign]

Got a reply from Dropbox, in case this helps others. It fixed my issue:

From what I gather by your description, you are getting an error message during the startup on the Dropbox desktop application.

With the new macOS Monterey update (macOS 12.0 and above), some stricter permissions have been enforced by Apple which have probably led to the issue you are experiencing. Can I have you perform the following steps and tell me if this resolves the issue?

1. Click on the Apple icon in the top left hand corner of your screen
2. Select "System Preferences..."
3. Then "Security & Privacy"
4. Select the Privacy tab
5. Select "Full Disk Access"
6. 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)
7. Repeat these steps under 'Files and Folders' and 'Accessibility'
8. Once you've completed this, please attempt to restart the Dropbox desktop app

This saved my sanity. Thanks

 

[Jim-Ratliff]

This saved my sanity. Thanks

Inspired by @MLivermoreDesign's referencing of Tozovac's information from Dropbox support, I realized that there must be something wrong with my Dropbox installation (e.g., I couldn't even add Dropbox to the list of Full Disk Access). So I reinstalled Dropbox from the website (replacing an installation using Homebrew Cask), and Dropbox now loads automatically at login the way it should. That inspired me to reinstall the other apps I was having the same problem with (see my post two comments above). That indeed fixed my problem with Sync and Bartender, but Keyboard Maestro and Alfred are still failing to load automatically.