Dropbox for mac version for mac#
Dropbox for mac version windows#

Dropbox for mac version for mac#

So what does this have to do with Dropbox support employees? Well, it turns out they don't know that it's possible for Mac applications to run without a Dock icon even though that's exactly how Dropbox worked for a decade. I suspect many people will just leave it in the Dock because they may not realize that Dropbox will continue running normally even if you 'quit' the file browser.

No matter what settings you choose, the new file browser and corresponding Dock open every time Dropbox starts. But you have to do this every time you restart your Mac, or every time Dropbox restarts. You have to change the setting because Dropbox's new app automatically switches the default from the Finder to Dropbox's new file browser.ĭropbox does keep syncing in the background after you quit the new file manager, and the useful Menu Bar icon will still be there.

You can fix the other major problem by going into Dropbox settings and choosing 'Open folders in Finder' instead of 'Open folders in Dropbox.' That way, if you click the Dropbox Menu Bar icon and then click a file, it opens in the Mac's native file manager instead of Dropbox's own file manager. You can use the Mac's Command-Q shortcut to quit the file browser, and the new Dropbox window and Dock icon will disappear-as long as you've also disabled the Mac feature that shows recent applications in the Dock. I've had it for more than a month since I somehow ended up in Dropbox's Early Access program. We wrote about it last week when Dropbox started rolling it out to more users. The company built its own file browser to replace what's already available in the Mac Finder, and it opens that new file manager every time Dropbox starts. Advertisementīut now, Dropbox wants to be front and center at all times. Dropbox's syncing and file-sharing features are integrated with the Finder (the Mac file manager), and there's a little icon in the Mac's Menu Bar at the top of the screen for when you need to change a setting. Dropbox has always been the kind of application that is there when you need it and gets out of the way when you don't. I'll get into that more later in this article.īut the Dock icon and window is a major change in how Dropbox presents itself to users. (It's going up to $158 next time I get billed, in February.) It's worth it to me because Dropbox still works great, while the alternatives have always been unreliable or disappointing in other ways when I've tried them. I'm not going to stop using Dropbox-I've been paying the company $138 a year for 2TB of storage and for 12 months' worth of file history, which saves all deleted files and revisions to files. This isn't a huge deal, as I can quit Dropbox's new file browser and get rid of that Dock icon each time my computer starts up. If my computer restarts or if Dropbox restarts, the new Dropbox window that I don't want pops up in the Dock:

Dropbox for mac version windows#

If you're not familiar with Macs, the Dock is the line of applications on the bottom of the screen (or the side, if you've moved it in the settings) and serves the same function as the Windows Taskbar.

To summarize, the problem is this: Dropbox now opens a new file browser and an associated Dock icon every time it starts, even if you don't want it to. I don't blame the individual support reps-Dropbox the company needs to make sure its employees are prepared to answer user questions, especially in advance of major changes that will inevitably lead to a rise in user complaints. But when Dropbox rolled out a major change to its Mac application, it had support reps replying to Mac users without knowing what they were talking about. As a result, Dropbox's users have to explain to Dropbox employees how Dropbox's application works on the Mac.Īs a division of labor, it probably makes sense for some support reps to specialize in Dropbox for Windows, or Dropbox for Mac, or Dropbox for mobile devices, etc.

Instead, I learned something both frustrating and fascinating: there are numerous Dropbox support employees who apparently have never used their company's Mac application and do not understand how it works. Further Reading Dropbox silently installs new file manager app on users’ systems