I want to get rid of (Personal) in my dropbox root folder now that I've stopped using Dropbox business. "Jane" gives a great desription of how to change it on my mac, on this page: https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Installation-and-desktop-app/undo-changed-folder-name/td-p/220463 BUT, when I try the first step of deleting the link to my computer, it asks me "Delete files from my personal Dropbox the next time this computer comes online." and I don't know if I'm supposed to check this, or not supposed to check this. And, it won't let me "REPLY" directly to Jane. Can anyone help? I want to keep all my files and relink them after I get the root folder name changed -- all I want to do is change the root folder name, I don't want to lose any files.

Hi there, the steps there are for a different reason. The (Personal) part of the name will only disappear if you unpair your personal account from the team account. If it’s still connected to a team account, then that tag will remain there and can’t be removed otherwise. After you’ve disconnected the accounts, you can reboot your computer and the folder should be automatically renamed. Let me know how it goes!

Is it possible to rename the Dropbox folder to Dropbox instead of Dropbox (Personal)?

24 Replies

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Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
8 years ago
Hi there, the steps there are for a different reason.

The (Personal) part of the name will only disappear if you unpair your personal account from the team account.

If it’s still connected to a team account, then that tag will remain there and can’t be removed otherwise.

After you’ve disconnected the accounts, you can reboot your computer and the folder should be automatically renamed.

Let me know how it goes!
Padraigincanada
Helpful | Level 5
8 years ago
OMG, thank you so much! This solved it!
nicholas2
New member | Level 2
7 years ago
What if I deleted the business account already, so I cannot disconnect my personal account from the already non-existent business account?
Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
7 years ago
Hi Nicholas, if this is the case, and you’ve already rebooted your machine completely, then you might need to try an advanced reinstall of the app and prior to installing, delete the local Dropbox folder.

However, you can copy those files to another folder on your machine and later copy them back into your Dropbox folder, similar to the following steps here, to prevent having to re-download them again from scratch.

Let me know if this works!
SaturdayScience
Explorer | Level 4
7 years ago
Why can't Dropbox team develop a simple 'rename' function? Why do you force root folder names upon us, in particular with sapces. With spaces in your imposed folder names Dropbox is incompatible with plenty of software. All for the sake of a simple "F2" folder rename function.
Mr_and_Mrs_D
Helpful | Level 6
6 years ago
I used to be on Windows 7 and my dropbox folder was named Dropbox despite I had linked my work account - now on windows 10 it is named Dropbox (Personal). Apart from breaking my existing shortcuts, adding a space and other 10 characters in the path it also seems ugly. Can't I really _not_ get rid of this "Personal" and name it just Dropbox?
Fiona
Dropbox Staff
6 years ago
Hi Mr_and_Mrs_D,

If the desktop application hosts two accounts of yours, one personal and one business, there is no way to remove the "Personal". However, if you choose to unpair the 2 accounts and you would keep the personal only synced to your desktop app, then it would switch back to just "Dropbox."

I understand this is not a solution to what you need. I am only explaining how this currently works since I have no solution to offer.

Thank you for your participation and feedback.
Mr_and_Mrs_D
Helpful | Level 6
6 years ago
Hi Fiona ,
It used to work on windows 7 however (till yesterday) - I had managed to get rid of that "personal" and have both my accounts synced, I just don't remember how I did it (a year ago). Can I sync outside of the dropbox app?
Thanks
Fiona
Dropbox Staff
6 years ago
So happy you found a workaround for this.

Currently Dropbox can only sync only inside Dropbox. Symlinks do not operate with Dropbox the same way as before. They can only work if the file is in Dropbox and the point to a location outside Dropbox. Please read about this here.

Feel free to get back t me wit any other questions!
Здравко
Legendary | Level 20
6 years ago
Hi Mr_and_Mrs_D,
In many cases, depending what exactly you need really, a workaround could be link/alias to "Dropbox (Personal)" folder. You can name it as you like, including just "Dropbox", and... the life is back as it was. :wink:
Hope this gives an alternative.