Forum Discussion

aknyc's avatar
aknyc
Helpful | Level 6
4 years ago

Mac Time Machine APFS and Dropbox

Dropbox customer support tells me that it is an absolutely bad idea (i could lose files and folders) to include dropbox in the OSX Time Machine backups.  Since dropbox is really not a backup program ...
FAQ
restore
Megan's avatar
Megan
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
4 years ago

Hey aknyc, let's get to it! 

 

Things remain the same on our end, in terms of how Dropbox interacts with Time Machine. 

 

The latter itself is fine, but restoring files from there could result in incorrect permissions, corrupted data, or even deleted data. 

 

If you need anything else, let me know.

  • aknyc's avatar
    aknyc
    Helpful | Level 6
    4 years ago

    Thanks Megan.  Just to clarify, you are saying that it is ok to use TM and Dropbox together, but should one restore a Dropbox folder file from TM, that is when potential problems may occur?

     

    Can one not jusy disconnect the device from Dropbox before restoring from TM, and then reconnecting, to work around this potential issue?

     

     

    • Megan's avatar
      Megan
      Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
      4 years ago
      Hi aknyc!

      Backup tools, such as Apple Time Machine, and syncing software (such as One Drive, Google Drive, Sugar Sync, and others), should not interact with the Dropbox folder's contents.

      If you want to, you can always go ahead and use them together, but we can't suggest this on our end.
      • JHW's avatar
        JHW
        New member | Level 2
        3 years ago

        The contents of the Dropbox folder do not now seem to be explicitly tallied in any home directory's displayed "Size", yet seem to be included in the user's home directory total "Size".  This is confusing or, at least, has confused me.

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