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Dropbox is making me re-download everything every time I reinstall the desktop app.
Every time that there is some issues with dropbox or I need to reinstall macos, I have to go through the painful experience of re-downloading all files stored on dropbox locally, because I want to ha...
Hey Lucben!
All right, let's take a step back to ensure that we're on the same page every step of the way:
Since you mentioned that this happens every time, can you clarify if the Dropbox desktop was uninstalled before you re-installed it again?
Also, when you re-install the app, are you prompted to set it up anew? Do you see a new Dropbox folder created each time? If not, you should see "Advanced settings" upon setting it up, as described in this article (step 9).
Finally, can you confirm whether the files on your desktop belong to the same account you want to re-install the Dropbox app for?
Are you sure that's the case? It would be a great hack, but… how does dropbox know which is to be considered the source of truth, since the offline version and the online version have been disconnected?
I also tried to ask GPT and it says that in theory this hack could work, but in practice:
- Dropbox may treat the folder as new—even if it already exists locally—especially after a clean reinstallation or OS upgrade.
- Internal file metadata or Dropbox’s hidden database often gets reset. Dropbox then re-indexes everything as "not seen" and proceeds to re-download virtually all files.
- Community reports confirm this is common: indexing phases often lead to full downloads despite existing local files, especially if Dropbox can't verify identical metadata or checksums.
Nancy
Dropbox Community Moderator
Dropbox Community ModeratorHey Lucben. I can also confirm that there should be an option to select your existing Dropbox folder upon signing back in to the desktop app (so, you shouldn’t have to re-download all of your Dropbox files from the start each time).
Just bear in mind that this may not work if you were previously using the Dropbox app on File Provider, or the Dropbox for Windows update and you switched back to the legacy version, or vice versa.
If that’s not the case though, then while logging back in to Dropbox, and before you choose the option to create a new Dropbox folder, there should be an “Advanced Settings” link. If you click on it, you can select the parent folder of the already established Dropbox folder. For example, if you have your Dropbox folder in the path "D:\OtherDrive\Folder\Dropbox", you'll want to select the folder "D:\OtherDrive\Folder".
Thanks Nancy , I am just not sure what you mean by suggesting that there "should" be an option. There "should", or there "is"? I thought that if you are on macOS, there is no alternatives to the Dropbox app on file provider. As a Dropbox customer, not sure what that means. I installed the latest version of Dropbox, and File provider is now the new configuration of macOS (latest release).
- Rich
Super User II
I am just not sure what you mean by suggesting that there "should" be an option. There "should", or there "is"?
There is. But saying "should" is also appropriate and is just a turn of phrase.
I thought that if you are on macOS, there is no alternatives to the Dropbox app on file provider.
For the moment you can still opt out of the File Provider update, though everyone will eventually be forced to update to it.
- Megan
Thank you Megan. As I said, I did not fully understand Nancy's comment. This sounds too complicated. The next time I am going to install dropbox, I would like it to give me the option to sync files that are already stored locally, without any hacks. As an end user, I should not have to worry about whether I am using File provider or not. And opting out is not an option, if this is going to not be a long-term solution. With the current implementation, it looks to me like there still is no solution to this issue.
