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Forum Discussion

Baboo85's avatar
Baboo85
Helpful | Level 5
6 years ago

Dropbox doesn't sync symbolic links anymore

Hi, until this summer I was able to sync folders outside Dropbox using simbolic links. I just tried again to sync a folder with this tricky method and it's not working. I tried to create simbolic...
desktop
FAQ
sync
windows
Fiona's avatar
Fiona
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
6 years ago

Hi Baboo85! Thanks for raising this topic. 

Truth is symlinks won't work like the use to anymore. 

Check out this Help center article explaining how Dropbox can sync symlinks nowadays. 

We also have several Community discussions about this. 

:books:

I received an email about changes to symlinks. Any ideas?

Best practices for using symlinks (symbolic links)

Moving folders/files to meet new symlink rules.

I am here for all your questions. :nerd:

Have a nice day! 

xgirones's avatar
xgirones
Helpful | Level 6
6 years ago

Truth is symlinks won't work like they used to anymore. 

Does that mean that the symlink feature is definitely not going to come back? Can you please provide a clear statement on this?

I am a paying user and I need to sync multiple folders in different drives, which until now could be achieved using symlinks/NTFS junctions. Moving everything under the dropbox folder is not an option for me. If this feature is no longer available I will be forced to cancel my subscription an look elsewhere.
 

 

  • Fiona's avatar
    Fiona
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    6 years ago

    Thanks for joining our discussion. 

    Symlinks were never a Dropbox feature xgirones. They use to work but they were causing huge syncing issues.  

    I am in the unpleasant position to confirm that the old set up with symlinks will not work. 

    Sorry to hear that you cannot change your set up. 

     

    time4us2fly Was the E folder syncing previously? :thinking: Are both your local folders linked with the same Dropbox account/email address? 

     

    • xgirones's avatar
      xgirones
      Helpful | Level 6
      6 years ago

      Thanks for the clarification. Will support for multiple unrelated folders in different drives be provided instead? IMHO it does not make sense to pay for a 2TB cloud storage that restricts the user to keep everything under the same local folder.

      • Fiona's avatar
        Fiona
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        6 years ago

        You can keep everything in the Dropbox folder and the Dropbox cloud. Dropbox does not support syncing outside of Dropbox though. 

        You can have Dropbox folders on different pc users of your device if you wish. You just need to install the application twice to different computer users. 

        You cannot have two active Dropbox folders in the same pc user and different drives.  

        Let me know if you want me to clarify this any further. 

         

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