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Forum Discussion
drmarkellis
3 years agoExplorer | Level 4
Can I save an external hard drive to Dropbox without putting them on in my Dropbox folder?
I want to store the contents of an external hard drive to my dropbox, without having to move it's contents over to my internal hard drive on a MacBook Pro. Can I do that?
12 Replies
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- Megan3 years ago
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hi drmarkellis, let's jump right into this!
In order to save your hard drive content to Dropbox, you'd either need to copy everything, and paste it inside your Dropbox folder, or enable our External backup feature.
In the first case your content would be located inside your Dropbox folder. However, if you use our Backup, you can see and sync your external drive on your Dropbox account online, and it will update every so often. It'll be a copy of your files in Dropbox.
Keep in mind that you wont be able to edit the files online, but they will be saved online to download or restore the backup to another drive. Would that work for you?
Let me know more!
- drmarkellis3 years agoExplorer | Level 4
Yes, Meagan, the hard drive feature WOULD work for me. Please inform me more about this.
Mark A. Ellis
- Rich3 years ago
Super User II
drmarkellis wrote:
Yes, Meagan, the hard drive feature WOULD work for me. Please inform me more about this.
- drmarkellis3 years agoExplorer | Level 4
The instructions worked well all the way to "Click Set up." That option is not available on the menu.
I got to "Backups"
There is a selection "External Drive Backups".
"Show setup notifications when a new external drives are plugged in" is selected.
I disconnected and reconnected the drive I want to backup on Dropbox
No new notifications appeared.
There is no "Setup" available under the "Backup" tab.
There is no "Add a backup"
Thank you for your assistance. I am grateful.
Mark A. Ellis
- Jay3 years ago
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hi drmarkellis, do you have a backup for something else already running? Try clicking where it says 'Manage backups'.
You should be able to get the option for the external drive backup from there.
- drmarkellis3 years agoExplorer | Level 4
Thank you, Jay. I'll check it out.
Very grateful for your return message.
Mark
- Siem Wigman3 years agoExplorer | Level 3
I would like to use this feature as well but I am unable to follow the instructions because my back up preferences seem limited. These are the only options i get?
- Jay3 years ago
Dropbox Community Moderator
HI Siem Wigman, what OS are you currently running on your device?
- Siem Wigman3 years agoExplorer | Level 3
I am currently running sonoma 14.0 (23A344)
- Jay3 years ago
Dropbox Community Moderator
Are you on a personal account or a Dropbox Business team?
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