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Forum Discussion
I goofed.... how to move Mac Desktop, Downloads and Documents back to my computer
Please advise if I should post this elsewhere. I think this is my first Dropbox post.
I'm on my wife's computer trying to provide tech support. The expression is true for me: I know only enough to be dangerous. 😉 LOL
I just use the brute force method of tech support. So if you have any suggestions, very slowly please.
Those three folders disappeared from her Mac.
There were alias folders in her User folder but no originals at the pointed location.
She would take a screenshot and it would disappear and all downloads were missing.
I mucked around on her dropbox.com account and found those 3 folders in Dropbox Backup in a folder "Mac (2)"
I checked those three in a list where the unchecked folders were online only.
Now the originals are in a hidden folder inside of a folder "Mac (2)" which is in her Dropbox folder on her Mac.
Her missing screenshots are back on her computer desktop and I can also find them by opening the alias folder in her User folder. So that's a step forward.
And the missing downloads are in the Downloads folder.
But there are still oddities.
When I take screenshot, it creates a folder "Screenshots" inside the Dropbox folder and does not go to the Desktop folder and does not show on her desktop.
Also, there is another folder in her Dropbox folder on her computer titled "My Mac (User MacBook Air)". It also has those three folders. I assume that is for her travel Mac.
Lastly, if I go to dropbox.com and find my way to Dropbox Backup, the three folders are there.
Maybe it would be best to start over completely with Dropbox and just wipe everything.
I don't know how to do that.
Alternatively, I don't know how to proceed with these three folders to get them back on her Mac completely and then if we want we can set them up so they aren't online only backups. It looks like they are kinds online folders now.
I hope this is easy to follow.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions. We appreciate.
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Thank you.
Still not crystal clear to me what will happen on my travel computer. If it will do what I would like.
In other words, will those three "Mac OS" folders appear in their normal locations on my travel computer synced with my main computer when I launch Dropbox on the travel computer?
- Hannah
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hey norm3, sorry to jump in here!
If you enable our backup feature on your computer, your macOS desktop folders (Downloads, Desktop, Documents) will get backed up to Dropbox.
They'll be moved into your Dropbox folder to a folder named "Mac" and you'll be able to access them from there on that machine.
If you'd like to access them from other computers, you'll be able to do so from this page.
I hope this helps!
- Thank you. However after reading that article on Dropbox Backup, I still have questions.
1. If I’m on my travel computer, can I view the contents in its Dropbox Folder of those three Mac OS folders I selected in Dropbox Backup on my main computer?
2. On the travel computer, will the Desktop from my main computer show up on the Desktop of the travel computer.
3. Does Dropbox Backup run anytime there is a change in a file in the Dropbox Folder including those folders selected in Dropbox Backup.
Thank you. - Hannah
Hey norm3, happy Monday!
Locally, from your Dropbox folder, you can only access the backup of that particular computer.
If you want to access the backups of other computers, you'll need to go to Dropbox online, here.
And changes that you make to your backed up files sync to your Dropbox instantly.
If you have any more questions, you can also check our FAQs about Dropbox backup.
