How to Fix “Dropbox Failed to Uninstall” on Mac & Windows

Q: Unable to uninstall Dropbox. I’ve been running Dropbox on two computers and my Android phone. I’m finding that Dropbox is causing problems on my main laptop which uses Windows 7. In trying to uninstall I ran into an  NSIS  error message “error launching uninstall.” Can anyone tell me how to fix this? I can’t find anything about uninstalls.

—A user from Microsoft community

If you have the same problem as the user above that Dropbox failed to uninstall on your computer, don’t worry, the following methods will help you walk through this issue easily and quickly.

How to Fix “Dropbox Failed to Uninstall”

Here are some methods collected online you can have a try to fix the issue of “unable to uninstall Dropbox”. Hope one of them can help you address it in soon.

For Windows users:

Method 1: Reinstall and uninstall it again

1. Download the offline installer of our Dropbox app.

2. Double-click the downloaded file.

3. After the install completes, click the Dropbox icon in the system tray.

4. Click the gear icon.

5. Click Quit Dropbox.

6. Try to uninstall Dropbox again.

Method 2: Manually uninstall it

1. Open Windows File Explorer.

2. Copy and paste “%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%” into the address bar, then press Enter.

3. In “Program Files,” open the “Dropbox” folder, then open the “Client” folder.

4. In “Client,” you’ll see a file named DropboxUninstaller.exe. Double-click this file to run the uninstaller.

Method 3: Running the uninstaller as an Administrator.

1. Right-click DropboxUninstaller.exe.

2. Choose Run as Administrator.

3. Enter the computer administrator username and password when prompted.

4. Follow the steps in the uninstaller.

For Mac users:

Method 1: Uninstall Dropbox in Finder

1. Unlink your Mac from Dropbox account: Click the Dropbox icon in the menu bar > Preference > Account > Unlink the Dropbox.

2. Open Activity Monitor (search for it with Spotlight if you don’t know how to open it) > Force quit Dropbox.

3. Open Finder > Choose Applications in the sidebar > Drag and drop Dropbox to the Trash and then empty the trash.

4. Find Dropbox folder in your Mac and right click to move the folder to Trash

5. Press Shift + Command + G to open “Go to the folder” window. Type in /Library and enter to locate Library folder. Then, find the Dropbox Helper Tools folder and remove it.

After completing the steps above, you can uninstall Dropbox app from your Mac, but the leftover like application caches and logs will remain on your computer. If you want to delete them to free up space, you can make it with steps:

1. “Go to the Folder” window, type in ~/.dropbox and click return key.

2. Select all files in the folder and delete them.

Method 2: Uninstall Dropbox by Using MacClean

There is a professional app uninstaller for MacBook/iMac/Mac Mini called MacClean, which can help you uninstall unwanted Mac apps without effort. Besides, it also can help you remove app junk files like application caches, logs, or preference to free up the storage space on your Mac. It can quickly scan your Mac to locate the app and its leftover files, which allows you to remove any app you no longer need without completed steps.

The Bottom Line

That’s all for how to fix “Dropbox failed to uninstall”, hope above methods is helpful for you. If they work, let me know by leaving your comments. If you have a better solution, welcome to share with us in the comment section.