Once installed, you’ll be prompted to either sign in or create a new account.
How to install the desktop app with admin privileges
The Dropbox desktop app requires admin privileges to run with full functionality on your computer. This enables multiple different core features of Dropbox, including:
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Sync icons that show the sync status of files and folders
Right-click context menus for taking quick actions in Dropbox
Access to Smart Sync
For the vast majority of users, the desktop app is automatically installed with admin privileges. However, if you didn't install with admin privileges you can follow the instructions below to do so.
Note: If you don't have admin rights on your computer (for example if you're using a work computer), you may need to ask your IT department for help.
If you already have Dropbox installed, uninstall the application.
Open the installer.
Do not right-click, and do not command-click Run as an Administrator
Follow the instructions in the install wizard.
If you’re asked for an administrative username and password, enter them or contact your administrator to sign in.
If you’re not asked for an administrative username and password, you’re already an admin on your computer.
Complete the installation and sign in to Dropbox.
Smart Sync and admin privileges
Some Dropbox users will have access to Smart Sync. If you have access to this feature, check that Dropbox is installed with admin privileges on each computer where the feature will be used.
Depending on the policies at your company, your team members may be able to install Dropbox with admin privileges on their own. If not, they may need the assistance of your IT team.
Why does the Dropbox desktop app for macOS require Keychain access?
Keychain is a password management system for Apple's macOS. Dropbox requires access to your Keychain to help verify your account and to provide another layer of security over the Dropbox app settings.
To grant Keychain access to Dropbox, click Allow or Always Allow (recommended for seamless access) when prompted to do so from macOS.
Clicking Deny will result in a 'Couldn't start Dropbox' error message. For security reasons, Dropbox will not start without access to your Keychain.
What is the Dropbox Web Helper for macOS?
Dropbox Web Helper supports the Dropbox user interface on macOS computers. It only runs when the desktop app is running. Dropbox Web Helper is an independent process, so it may start and stop at different times than the desktop app. If you adjust your firewall or antivirus software for Dropbox, we recommend similar adjustments for Dropbox Web Helper.
Online-only explained
If you set a file or folder to online-only, it is removed from your hard drive so that it’s only stored in your account on dropbox.com. You can still see the file or folder on your computer, but it’s just a placeholder. You need to be connected to the internet to open it. If you open the file, it becomes local and saves back to your computer’s hard drive. If you move, delete, or re-name it on your computer, even while offline, those changes will be mirrored on dropbox.com once your device is back online.
Smart Sync vs. selective sync
Selective sync also helps you save hard drive space by removing files from your hard drive so that they’re only saved on dropbox.com. However, you won’t be able to see those files or folders on your computer at all and there’s no automatic option for selective sync.
Automatic Smart Sync
You can turn on automatic Smart Sync so that files you don’t open from your computer for a few months become online-only automatically and new files you add to dropbox.com become online-only by default.
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To turn on automatic Smart Sync:
Click the Dropbox icon in your system tray (Windows) or menu bar (Mac).
Click your avatar (profile picture or initials).
Click Preferences.
Click the Sync tab.
Under Save hard drive space automatically,select On.
If you don’t open a file or folder from your computer for a few months, it’ll become online-only to save you hard drive space. If an application on your computer needs a file to be local to function properly, automatic Smart Sync will set it to local temporarily and return it to online-only later. Download music for mac.
Make files added to the web default to online-only
Mac os system 7.1 download. You can make all files that you add to dropbox.com online-only by default in two ways:
Turn on automatic Smart Sync. (Instructions above).
Change this setting in your preferences. To do so:
Click the Dropbox icon in your system tray (Windows) or menu bar (Mac).
Click your avatar (profile picture or initials).
Click Preferences.
Click the Sync tab.
Click the dropdown next to Files added on web default and click Online-only.
If automatic Smart Sync is on, you can’t choose this option because your files already default to online-only.
Why online-only files may take up a little space
Online-only files take up a small amount of space on your hard drive because the placeholder requires space to store the file name and the shortcut to dropbox.com, but it takes up much less space than the file itself would.
Note: On Mac, online-only files may appear to take up the full amount of space. To fix this, follow the instructions in the “Set online-only files to zero ‘logical’ size” section of this article.
System requirements for Smart Sync
Mac: OS X Mavericks (10.9)
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Windows: 7 and up
Dropbox Mac App
Note: You can’t use Smart Sync on a mobile device, but you can set your Dropbox files to open on your mobile device while you’re offline.