Accessibility is an Apple setting that allows applications on your Mac to interact with other applications. For example, it allows the Dropbox badge to work in non-Dropbox applications.
If you don’t turn on accessibility, you won’t get access to Dropbox features like:
- The Dropbox badge
- Seeing who’s viewed your files
- Better prioritization for file syncing
Not using Dropbox yet? See how Dropbox makes managing file permissions easy.
How do I turn on or turn off Dropbox accessibility on my Mac?
If you're installing Dropbox on your Mac, you may see this dialog box:
To allow accessibility from here:
- Click Turn on Accessibility.
- Go the Privacy tab, if you’re not there already.
- Click the lock icon to unlock your system preferences.
- You will be asked to enter your computer username and password (not your Dropbox username and password)
- Check the box beside the Dropbox icon to enable accessibility or uncheck to disable accessibility.
- Click the lock icon again to re-lock system preferences.
How to edit accessibility after you’ve already installed Dropbox
If you want to edit accessibility after you’ve already installed Dropbox:
- On your Mac computer, click the System Preferences icon.
- Click Security & Privacy.
- Click the Privacy tab.
- Click Accessibility in the menu.
- Click the lock icon to unlock your system preferences and enter your username and password for your computer.
- Check the box beside the Dropbox icon to enable accessibility or uncheck to disable accessibility.
- Click the lock icon again to re-lock system preferences.
You may also be prompted to:
- Enable accessibility for the Dropbox badge, if you haven’t already
- Restart the Dropbox desktop application
How to get Dropbox to stop asking you about accessibility
If you don’t want to keep being asked about accessibility, click the checkbox next to Don’t show this to me again. To make changes to your accessibility in the future, follow the instructions for “How to edit accessibility after you’ve already installed Dropbox”.
