Ubuntu: How to start Dropbox on Startup? (9 Solutions!)
Channel: Roel Van de Paar
Date: 2019-06-30

Ubuntu: Start Dropbox on Startup


The Question: I installed Dropbox (2.0.26) via the command line instructions https://
www.dropbox.com/install2.
Dropbox is running great except that it won't start on startup. The command
given, ~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd, runs fine via the terminal or Alt+F2, but it
isn't working in Startup Programs.
I'm probably missing something obvious regarding the syntax for a startup
program command. Any suggestions?

Solutions Sample (Please watch the whole video to see all solutions, in order of how many people found them helpful):

== This solution helped 18 people ==
Click on the dropbox icon on the top of your screen, hit "preferences" and tick
the button where it says "Start dropbox on system startup" in the "general"
tab.

== This solution helped 1 person ==
To add any program on startup, go to 'Dash Home' and choose 'Startup
Applications'. There you can add any program that wish to run on startup.

== This solution helped 6 people ==
First you have to create a dropbox.desktop file, with the following contents:
[Desktop Entry]
Name=Dropbox
GenericName=File Synchronizer
Comment=Sync your files across computers and to the web
Exec=dropbox start -i
Terminal=false
Type=Application
Icon=dropbox
Categories=Network;FileTransfer;
StartupNotify=false
Once its created, you need to move it to ~/.config/autostart folder, reboot,
and that's it.
[enter image description here]
Remark: if dropbox was installed from the command line, the line "Exec=dropbox
start -i" doesn't work, it needs to be replaced by "Exec=/home/
username/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd" where /home/username is your home directory.

== This solution helped 2 people ==
I tried all the other methods: Only this method as stated by previous user has
worked for me:
Run:
cd /usr/bin
Then rename executable with this command:
sudo mv dropbox dropbox1
Then create a new file called dropbox using command:
sudo gedit dropbox
Then write this:
#!/bin/bash
~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd
Save and exit, change premission:
sudo chmod 0755 dropbox
then restart the computer.
OR
Create a startup application with name say "Dropbox2" and write this line in
it.
sh -c ~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd
Save and exit, then restart the computer.
One of the 2 work properly.

== This solution helped 5 people ==
In the terminal, type
dropbox autostart y

== This solution helped 4 people ==
Try this command:
sudo apt-get install nautilus-dropbox
It ships in the autostart function.

== This solution helped 1 person ==
Create a startup application with name say "dropBOX" and write this line in it.
sh -c ~/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd
Save and exit, then restart the computer.

== This solution helped 13 people ==
Follow these steps to make Dropbox start up each time.
 1. Click on the Ubuntu "Dash" icon
 2. Type Startup Applications in the Dash search area
 3. Click on the "Startup Applications" ico
 4. Click "Add" button
 5. For "Name:", type Dropbox
 6. For "Command:", type /home/{your-username}/.dropbox-dist/dropboxd
 7. For "Comment:", this can be left blank
 8. Click "Add" button
 9. Click "Close" button
 10. Restart your computer

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