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Forum Discussion
Dropbox client lacks ability to sync folders to specific directories.
I'm hoping to switch cloud platforms this year and was considering a number of options. I am currently exploring Dropbox, but I am somewhat shocked by the desktop syncing client lacking such basic functionality. It gives me the option to sync only to a single Dropbox folder. Traditionally, in every other cloud service I have used, I can map remote folders to various locations on my computer. This way I can have, for example, my Documents folder always in sync with the server without having to disrupt my operating system's traditional folder structure.
Given how old Dropbox is, this is a glaring oversight when it comes to feature compatibility. I know that the API is robust enough to handle such a thing (I can achieve similar effect with rclone). Are there any solutions for these limitations? I would like to work this out before I commit to this platform.
3 Replies
- Rich
Super User II
dylanwolters wrote:
It gives me the option to sync only to a single Dropbox folder. ... Are there any solutions for these limitations?
Dropbox will only sync the files and folders located in the Dropbox folder. It's not able to sync folders located elsewhere.
Alright. On my end, I can think of two workarounds for this (in case anyone stumbles upon this in the future). I have decided to use rclone, paired with a user systemd service & timer to automatically sync every five minutes. Alternatively, a simpler solution would be to have dropbox sync to its folder. Then symlink those folders to the ones they're meant to replace.
- Mark
As long as the symlinks are not inside of Dropbox it will work fine 🙂
