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Turning on dropbox backup but folder name is weird
I had tested the Dropbox Backup feature in the past so I know that when turned on my Computers should be added as My Mac (Unique Mac Name). I decided to turn it back on again when setting up two new Macs that I have but the backup now creates the folders as just Mac, Mac (2), Mac (3)
I've gone through the steps of unlinking Dropbox from each computer. Checking their names in System Preferences and also in the Security tab of my Dropbox account. The computer names are correct in Dropbox but the backup feature is still creating the folders as just Mac
OK, they are finally rolling up a Beta update for Dropbox Backup that will let you rename and I was able to do it! You can do go through Dropbox Backup in the app, disable the backups on all the computers there, and then restart them. Then, re-enable backups and it should move you over to beta so you can now rename things!
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Hi,
i have the same issue!! Please give us a feature to rename the Dropbox Backup Folder.
Come on Dropbox, this is amateur bull**bleep**. FIX IT!
It's deeply irritating that my office computers are just backing up as Mac (##). It is increasingly difficult to figure out what computers are what backup, considering they don't reflect the device name, location, or anything remotely helpful. I'm even angrier now that I see this has been a problem for years with no attempted resolution whatsoever. It might be time to switch cloud services...
Just posting as it's October 2022 now and Dropbox STILL hasn't even bothered to touch this issue. Setup DB from scratch, added backup for my mac (which is called MikeMBP), and I get a backup named "Mac". Helpful...
I have three Mac computers connected to dropbox, all are now Mac (1), Mac (2), Mac (3) — this is despite them having distinguishable names in the system share settings. Please change this feature so that computers can be named, there is no benefit to this ambiguity.
- Rich
Super User II
tjanderson wrote:
Maybe the feature to use computer name instead of the OS is rolling out ...
It's actually the other way around. The feature used to use the computer name for the backup folder name, but it was changed (for simplicity reasons?!) to use PC or Mac with a number appended.
Hannah Hopefully you can pass this along to the Product Owner for Dropbox backup cause this is still a MAJOR downfall to Dropbox backup and to me makes the claim listed in the dropbox backup marketing https://www.dropbox.com/backup?_tk=social extremely suspect.
Also the marketing slide does not accurately reflect how Backup actually works. What the picture shows the name as Cobalt in reality is going to be Mac (4) or Windows (2). Maybe the feature to use computer name instead of the OS is rolling out but for now all I see is a lot of false claims from what Dropbox says they do and what they actually do. Would love to see that change
Is this still the case? Why doesn't it use the device name or computer account name? It's incredibly inconvenient to use a naming convention like this. Especially if you're trying to access files via terminal but the name has parenthesis in it.
so is a plan in the works to address this behavior? what happens when i format again? PC3? then i build a new pc to replace this one, PC4?
Its kind of important to address this. some people have a whole slew of scripts that run based on paths and locations and once youre entrenched having crazy names appended to the same environment that are unchangeable and unremovable is absurd at best. I was able to swallow the murder of symlinks but this one is preventing me from using it altogether.Ugh, same problem. its pegging my main PC as PC2 after a format/upgrade to windows 11. unlinked everythign from my dropbox account, restarted and tried to set it up again.
guess i wont be using that.
can win with cloud services. tried putting libraries in onedrive but stuff just gets perpetually stuck on sync so figured id shift gears and come to dropbox. nope, dropbox has to sequester things off in their own "PC" folder and on top of that they have to append numbers and you cant change whatever it decides.
good times. local backups it is.
