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Full Local Backup to an External Drive
I would like to be able to create a full local backup of my Dropbox without needing to sync all files to my computer’s internal storage.
Right now, my Dropbox is larger than the available space on my computer, so I can’t keep everything synced locally. Because of this, I don’t have a reliable way to back up all of my files to a physical drive for long-term safety or peace of mind (unless I do it in batches and that takes a long time.
It would be extremely helpful to be able to connect an external hard drive and sync my entire Dropbox directly to that drive, without first downloading/syncing everything to my computer.
Ideally, this would work as a one-way backup (Dropbox to external drive), clearly labeled as a backup destination, so there’s no risk of accidentally overwriting files.
Having a native way to back up all Dropbox content to an external drive would significantly improve data safety and flexibility, especially for users with large accounts.
This would be especially valuable for long-time Dropbox users with large libraries who want a simple, reliable backup solution without third-party tools.
Hi marcemarce95,
Thanks for sharing your idea.
Unfortunately this simply is not possible. Syncing requires a dedicated folder and will always sync both ways instead of just one way. Dropbox can't create a true one-way backup of your entire account directly to an external hard drive without first syncing files to your computer’s internal storage.
The Dropbox desktop app only supports two-way folder syncing, and features like Selective Sync or online-only files help manage space but don’t create a physical backup. Syncing directly to an external drive is risky because deletions or disconnects can propagate back to the cloud.
As a result, the only safe way to do a full local backup today is by downloading Dropbox data directly to an external drive in a one-way, incremental manner.
2 Replies
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- Neal
Community Manager
Hi marcemarce95,
Thanks for sharing your idea.
Unfortunately this simply is not possible. Syncing requires a dedicated folder and will always sync both ways instead of just one way. Dropbox can't create a true one-way backup of your entire account directly to an external hard drive without first syncing files to your computer’s internal storage.
The Dropbox desktop app only supports two-way folder syncing, and features like Selective Sync or online-only files help manage space but don’t create a physical backup. Syncing directly to an external drive is risky because deletions or disconnects can propagate back to the cloud.
As a result, the only safe way to do a full local backup today is by downloading Dropbox data directly to an external drive in a one-way, incremental manner.
- Rich
Super User II
It would be extremely helpful to be able to connect an external hard drive and sync my entire Dropbox directly to that drive, without first downloading/syncing everything to my computer.
Use a third-party application such as Cyber Duck, Mountainduck or CloudMounter to directly access your account without syncing, and copy the data directly to your external drive.
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