How to Uninstall Dropbox on Windows, Mac, and Linux

Uninstalling Dropbox is a straightforward process that can be completed on various operating systems.

The first step is to quit the Dropbox application on your computer. This can be done by closing the Dropbox icon in the system tray on Windows or by clicking on the Dropbox icon in the menu bar on Mac.

To uninstall Dropbox on Windows, you'll need to go to the Control Panel and select "Uninstall a program" from the Programs section. From there, you can find Dropbox in the list of installed programs and select it for removal.

On Mac, you can uninstall Dropbox by going to the Applications folder and dragging the Dropbox icon to the Trash.

To sign out of Dropbox, click the Dropbox icon in your system tray (Windows), click your avatar, and select “Sign out.” This will prevent any issues during the uninstallation process.

You can uninstall Dropbox using the Apps and Features pane on your PC. Press Windows + X (or right-click the Start button) and select Apps and Features. Select Dropbox and pick the option labeled Uninstall.

Alternatively, you can try the following methods if you encounter issues during the standard uninstall process:

After uninstalling the Dropbox desktop app, you may still have the Dropbox folder on your hard drive containing your synced files. You can choose to keep this folder or delete it manually if you no longer need the files.

Before you can successfully remove the Dropbox folder from your computer, there are a few things to take care of first.

Finish syncing any pending uploads or downloads. Open the Dropbox desktop app, click your avatar, and ensure no files are listed as “Syncing” or “Waiting to sync.”

Sign out of Dropbox on your computer. Click the Dropbox icon in your system tray (Windows) or menu bar (Mac), click your avatar, and select “Sign out.”

You've completed the necessary housekeeping tasks and are now ready to remove the Dropbox folder.

Uninstalling Dropbox on Linux can be done using either the graphical user interface or the command line.

You can use the graphical software management tool in most Linux distributions to uninstall Dropbox.

To remove Dropbox using the command line, open a Terminal window.

Stop the Dropbox daemon by running the command "dropbox stop".

Remove Dropbox and its dependencies with the following commands: "rm -rf ~/.dropbox-dist", "rm -rf /var/lib/dropbox", "rm -rf ~/.dropbox*", "sudo apt-get remove nautilus-dropbox", and "sudo apt-get remove dropbox".

Note that the command "rm -rf ~/.dropbox-dist" will permanently delete your local Dropbox files, so make sure you have a backup or no longer need the files before running it.

Here's a step-by-step guide to removing Dropbox from your computer:

Remove the Dropbox folder and its contents with the command "rm -rv ~/Dropbox".

Uninstalling Dropbox on a Mac is a bit more involved than on Windows, but it's still a relatively straightforward process. To start, you'll need to stop Dropbox's sync service from running in the background.

Click on the Dropbox status icon on the Mac's menu bar and select your avatar or initials, then click "Preferences…". From there, switch to the "Account" tab and click the "Unlink This Dropbox…" button to disconnect your computer from your Dropbox account. This is an important step to prevent any data from being synced back to your account.

Next, open the Activity Monitor and find the Dropbox process, then click the "X" button to force quit it. This will stop the sync service and allow you to proceed with uninstalling the app.

To uninstall the Dropbox app itself, open Finder and navigate to the Applications folder. Control-click Dropbox and select Move to Trash. If prompted, enter the administrator password to confirm.

However, uninstalling Dropbox will not remove the Dropbox sync folder on your Mac. If you don't plan on reinstalling Dropbox later, you can choose to delete the sync folder. To do this, go to the Finder and navigate to the Dropbox folder, usually located in the Users folder. Control-click the Dropbox folder and select Move to Trash.

If the Dropbox sync folder is of a substantial size, consider deleting the Mac's Trash to free up the storage space. To thoroughly remove all Dropbox-related files and folders from your Mac, you'll need to delete the hidden Dropbox folder and the Dropbox and DropboxHelperTools folders in the Library folder.

Uninstalling Dropbox on Windows and Linux can be a bit of a process, but it's a necessary step if you no longer want to use the cloud storage service.

You can uninstall Dropbox on Windows by visiting the Apps and Features pane on your PC and selecting the Dropbox option, then clicking Uninstall. If you use Windows 11, you'll need to select the More icon (three dots) next to Dropbox to reveal the Uninstall button.

To remove Dropbox completely, you'll need to stop the cloud storage service from running in the background before uninstalling it. This can be done by clicking the Dropbox icon in the system tray and selecting Quit Dropbox.

If you're having trouble uninstalling Dropbox, you can try alternative methods such as running the Dropbox uninstaller directly or using the repair option in the Dropbox installer.

On Linux, you can uninstall Dropbox using the graphical software management tool or by running a series of commands in Terminal. To stop the Dropbox app from running in the background, you can run the command "dropbox stop" followed by "dropbox status" to confirm that it's not running.

To remove Dropbox completely on Linux, you can run the following commands:

Note that running these commands will permanently delete your local Dropbox files, so make sure you have a backup or no longer need the files before running them.