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Backup folder name change
Hello! I have 2 macs, one personal and one for work. Both had backup enabled and when I went online, I saw both computers' backup directories. The directories were both in the format of "My Mac (computername)" However, recently I disabled the Dropbox backup on my work laptop because I didn't think it would be wise to backup my work stuff to Dropbox. But I was subsequently told it was OK, so I re-enabled the backup. While everything was uploaded to Dropbox just fine, the name of the work laptop backup directory is now simply "Mac (2)". I would like to rename the folder to the "My Mac" format I previously had, but it is not letting me rename the folder. Any assistance would be great. Thanks in advance.
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Great Dropbox
You lost another customer here.
In 2 years not being able to ONLY put a "feature" of renaming a **bleep** folder is just ridiculous!
Bla bla bla since 2 whole years.
Hi Google, here I come!- This has been going on for a few years now. Dropbox isn’t paying attention to the fact that many users are complaining about this issue. And I don’t buy that this is working as described.
This is ridiculous. I just got 2 new Mac's and expected them to be in the same naming convention as all my other Mac backups "My Mac (JSMs-MBP.local)" but now I cannot tell which Mac is 1 or 2. Why would you change this simple feature!?!
Has this been fixed yet?
This has become pretty ridiculous! Renaming backup folders or at least inheriting the PC name is a feature that MUST be resolved! For those of us with multiple PCs it is a SIGNIFICANT problem that impacts ease of use. Where and how does Dropbox derive the PC name? My PC is named and when linked to Dropbox shows the computer name in linked devices however the backup folder is always PC or PC (#). I have tried disabling backup, unlinking and restarting Dropbox but the applications continues to attach the backup folder to "PC". This worked at one point as I have several older computers (Windows 10) that have the actual computer name as the backup folder but my Windows 11 machines continue to use this generic naming convention. With the number of questions and complaints about this issue it would seem that it is of high concern for Dropbox users and should be addressed ASAP!
Like I said earlier, isn't product management paying attention to what their customers are asking for? That's the whole point of their department at a software company (I should know - I've been in product management for 6 years). Listen to what the customers want and prioritize. It's clear from this thread that this requested feature is getting some traction. And as someone mentioned earlier, it looks a bit weird naming these directories PC (1) and PC (2).
I have two Macs - one for work and one for home. Both were named Mac (1) and Mac (2). Then I had to replace both. I had removed Dropbox from both machines, removing the backup of the desktop, downloads and documents directory. Those directories then disappeared from Dropbox. Now with the new machines, Dropbox has added directories Mac (6) and Mac (8). That's insane.
Please look into this and consider this for a future upgrade.
Please pass along that as another long-time Dropbox loyalist the backup folders should be able to be changed. If nothing else, they should take on the Computer Name and append (2), (3), etc only if multiple backups are found with the same name.
In my case, I told Dropbox just now to inherit my old backup but instead it created a new backup "Mac (2)" and even after unlinking the original computer and deleting the "Mac" folder my current backup presists with the name "Mac (2)". Really though I should be able to change this folder to any name. If it requires a restart that's fine.
Thanks.
- Ok, that’s a shame.
Thanks. - Rich
Super User II
marknorgate wrote:
Bottom line: is it possible to configure this name on macOS and, if so, how?
No. Originally, the folder included the name of the computer being backed up. Now, the folder will simply be called PC or Mac, with a number being added for each new device of that type that is being backed up.
