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secret_username1's avatar
secret_username1
Helpful | Level 6
3 years ago

Dropbox limits on zipped files preventing downloading as backup to external drive.

Have ~1.5 TB of files on Dropbox that I'm trying to backup to an external hard drive.   My initial plan was to copy the local Dropbox folder from my PC to the external drive. However, I'd previou...
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Rich's avatar
Rich
Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
3 years ago
secret_username1 wrote:

1. If I wanted all devices synced to my Dropbox account to have local copies of all files, would I need to click it on each device?

2. Supposing I clicked it on each device, will all future changes to the files stored in the cloud be automatically downloaded on all devices? Or would I need to routinely click this button in the future because Dropbox will continue to convert files to online-only?

1. Yes.

2. If you're on Windows and you have the New files default option in Dropbox Preferences set to Available offline, then the files will download to the computer. I don't this this option exists on Mac any longer.

crk__plus's avatar
crk__plus
New member | Level 2
2 years ago

Hello Rich,

I am trying to do same - make an external hard drive copy of my Dropbox folders and files - however the size of my folders is too large to sync with my laptop and therefore I use selective sync for day to day connectivity to Dropbox.  Is there a way to copy entire folders to and external drive?  I am only using about 800GB of 5 TB. The two folders i want to copy to external drive are 513GB and 278 GB.

  • Nancy's avatar
    Nancy
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    2 years ago

    Hey crk__plus! Hope it’s OK to jump in. 

     

    One way to do this would be with selective sync, like you also mention. You’d need to sync the folders locally (depending on your hard drive space), and then copy them to the external drive. 

     

    The other option is to do this via the website. However, keep in mind that the website has a 250GB downloading limit, so you’ll need to export your files in smaller batches and make sure you set up your browser downloads to be saved directly to your external drive.

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