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Forum Discussion
Vault on Desktop is going away (macOS)
Boohoo! Just received this message when starting the macOS upgrade wizard.
I'd just started using this about 6 months ago. Sigh.
Hey Darryl M.4, thanks for reaching out to us today.
We really appreciate your feedback about this and I will make sure that your comments are passed along to our team.
Indeed, on the latest Dropbox for macOS update, you will no longer be able to access Vault through the Dropbox desktop app.
However, you can still access your Vault on our website and the Dropbox mobile app.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Very frequent vault user here and very disappointed with this decision.
You are making it harder for desktop user to easily access files on my HD, just so you have more access to my files?Seriously, I don't see any legit reasoning from your end why you make this change.
Been a client for 8 years and I'm out 👋😤Yeah... I can't even do anything now. I refuse to have to go to my browser, when I could have gone into the files, and then viola! Like magic! Edit or send files to the vault, then download them, and then reupload them through the browser. This is ridiculous. It was easy drag n drop when the vault was open when needed to. Now it's a hassle. If I didn't need this space for my business. I would go to iCloud. Unfortunately my clients files will no longer be stored in a private vault for them and out in the open for anyone to get into, if there should be any vulnerabilities on the web client. At least my other computer hasn't updated, and I will refuse those updates until I no longer can, or until I find something better. A highly sought out feature that was highly regarded just not to long ago. Then some stupid higher up decided to say "Hey! I know how we can piss off the majority of our user base! Lets get rid of the Vault in the folders options and make our users use their browser and make it really inconvenient!" I used to be able to send my own sensitive documents by drag n drop. Now i have to take the extra time to use a feature that wasn't broke. I also moved the Drop Box folder back to Favorites, super inconvenient to put it in "Locations".
If I could do what I could do with iCloud, or Google Drive like I could do on here. I would.
When I do go to the vault, it tells me that I can backup my drive. Then sends me to vault in the Finder to put the code in, Which then goes into a loop of opening Dropbox vault in a browser. What a joke.
"If it ain't broke, don't fix it! - Thomas Bertram LanceI agree! I am really happy I did some research and found this post. Also have all my clients shared folders on here and would be really annoying to do these roundabouts for our files. I didn't update yet and really not going to either.
They are doing it for more **bleep**ing money, all these companies try to squeeze every last dime out of us.
I really don't get who makes these ridiculous decisions to make it harder and less user friendly to access your own darn files.
I am going to search for alternatives that is for sure!
- Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Hey Darryl M.4, thanks for reaching out to us today.
We really appreciate your feedback about this and I will make sure that your comments are passed along to our team.
Indeed, on the latest Dropbox for macOS update, you will no longer be able to access Vault through the Dropbox desktop app.
However, you can still access your Vault on our website and the Dropbox mobile app.
Let me know if you have any questions.
How/why is this happening? Can Dropbox provide some background on why you would remove this? I make heavy use of this on desktop (and my use of Dropbox on mobile and web is minor in comparison). I just don't get it. I keep all sorts of sensitive docs in Vault, and need access to those from my desktop/laptop. Honestly, removing this from desktop makes the feature non-existant/useless to me, and as you can likely tell, makes me a very unhappy Dropbox customer right now. Is there a recommended alternative or?
- I’ve yet to hear a compelling reason for this! Why would you remove the Vault from our computers? Why make it mandatory rather than an option?
Think about it this way…
The folder with my most sensitive files, that requires a password to access, you’re taking OFF MY computer and only allowing me to access via your website. This is so dumb. What if I need access to my tax returns but I don’t have internet access? If this isn’t fixed, I’ll be looking for another backup solution. One that won’t require me to give up having my most important files locally available.
So to edit a Vault file, we now have to get online, open the website, navigate to the vault, enter the pin, download the file, edit the file, upload the file, delete the file we downloaded, empty trash. This is a big step backwards. Please undo this.
- Exactly! How did anyone think taking away this feature would serve us? And the response that “oh, you can still get it on the website.” is laughable.
That is not my experience - not only can I not see the Vault on the Mac, but I do not see it on the Web or on iPhone.
- Jay
Thank you for your feedback and we apologize for any inconvenience caused by the deprecation of Vault on desktop.
We understand that this change may have caught some users off guard and we want to assure you that we're exploring options for addressing your concerns.
While the desktop support for Vault has been deprecated, the web interface is still available for users to access their vault data.
We appreciate your patience as we work to identify the best path forward for our users.
This is disappointing. The web version for many people is much more inconvenient, as you know. Otherwise, Dropbox would be full mobile/web only if the value of its desktop integration wasn't high.
I imagine some bug you can't work around or some OS restriction is coming. I'm sure you're all in touch with Apple, can you make a stronger push?
did anyone think that sending out an email about this might have been helpful?
did i really need to try to access sensitive banking info to find out (VIA GOOGLING) that i can no longer access vault via desktop?
so, now i need to move that password protected vault folder to one of my regular, unprotected folders just to make sure i have access on my desktop version?
this is crazy wack.
Yes, but by Vault has completely disappeared on ALL platforms, along with all of the files that I had stored there!
- Megan
Hi bst7, let's jump right into this!
It seems rather odd that you can't locate your Backup when you check your account online either. Have you made sure you're logged into the correct Dropbox account?
Have you checked your event page at all? The Events page at www.dropbox.com/events gives you an overview of all activity in your account including files events (adds/edits/deletes).
Let me know more!
ok, jay/dropbox staff- what's the result of your exploration of options that address our concerns? this is so disappointing and, frankly, unacceptable. i've been waiting for a year now, to see if this problem would be addressed but now i'm planning on migrating my files to another service. thanks!
I have not accessed my Vault for a couple of months. My account settings or subscriptions have not changed. I can no longer see the Vault - on my Mac, on the web, on my iPhone. It has completely vanished, along with all of the files that I had put there!
The only thing that has changed is the upgrade to the new Dropbox, which has included its "migration" to a new integration with the Mac than it had previously. Has Dropbox deleted the entire contents of my Vault, or are they somewhere else?
It seems it has, but have a backup (fortunately)...
My Vault folder no longer shows in Mac Finder, and even when I go to DropBox online, I can only get to my Vault by going through settings to unlock Vault. Otherwise, it's invisible in the sidebar.
I'm currently using Mac OS Sonoma 14.0 on an iMac 24" M1 chip computer.
- Megan
Hi Zaniac, let's jump right into this!
You mentioned that you have some issues locating your Vault locally.
Could you hover your mouse over your little Dropbox icon, next to your WiFi on the menu bar, and check both the syncing status and the version of the app you're using?
Are you on the new macOS for File Provider?
Keep me posted, and we'll take it from there!
Hi Megan,
There is no "Get Started" link, which means that, for some reason, the update isn't available for me, although I don't think I have a complicated setup. There is, however, this:
[Removed as per Community Guidelines]
But there is no explanation of how to move it there if I need to move it.
I'm still unable to access my vault files through the website nor iPhone app. This is a major disappointment!
https://www.dropbox.com/vault
This should bring up your vault if you are signed into your dropbox account and then asking for your pin. Even double clicking vault in your finder normally goes straight to yours in the browser.
So, like everyone else, I've stumbled through being required to access Vault via browser (Grrr...) but how can I edit a simple text file in Vault? Back in good ol' days I could just vi/whatever that file. Now, I click on it in the browser and Dropbox displays it but I can't edit it.
