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Forum Discussion
Migrating from Mac to Mac using Migration Tool
Greetings,
MacBook Pro (old machine): OS 12.6.5
MacBook Air (new machine): OS 13.3.1
1. I have been using Dropbox to backup my files on my MacBook Pro, all my files are online and only the ones I use is made available offline
2. I used "Migrant Assistant" to migrate to a new MacBook Air, so the folders & files in Documents, Downloads, Desktop are seen on my new Mac.
3. I am unable to setup Dropbox on my new MacBook Air. I get the error from Dropbox App which says "cannot setup the folders" (Desktop, Downloads, Documents)
For eg it is asking me to move "Move Desktop folder to its original location, then try again"
4. When I click on the Dropbox icon on the toolbar, it says "Upgrade to the latest version of dropbox", but I had downloaded the app just then on MacBook air.
I don't know what to do. Please advise.
regards,
Mahesh
24 Replies
- Walter
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hi BG Mahesh, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.
Could you send us a screenshot of the exact error you're getting along with the desktop app's exact version and status as shown in your menu bar?
If you can access the desktop app's preferences, can you take a look at the location of your Dropbox folder and let me know what you find?
Any additional information or screenshots are more than welcome!
06 New Mac Backup failed message05 New Mac Backup message04 New Mac Dropbox location moved message01 New MacAir device dropbox version
I added captions for you to see which images are from old and new Mac. But I will summarize
1. new mac, dropbox version - v171.4.6182
2. New mac, dropbox location (not changeable in preferences) -> Users->***->Library (hidden directory)->Dropbox
3. Old Mac dropbox location -> Users->***->Dropbox
- Megan
Hi BG Mahesh, sorry to jump in here, but could you try setting the Backup from the website, directly from this page?
Also, can you please let us know if you've attempted any troubleshooting steps like rebooting your computer or reinstalling the app at all since you first noticed this?
Let us know how it goes!
On https://www.dropbox.com/backup/all I see only my Old MacBook Pro
I don't see my new MacBook Air on this page
No, I haven't rebooted or reinstalled the app. Since you asked, I rebooted my Macbook Air. And I installed Dropbox Mac app again (I did not uninstall, but installed again). When I restarted dropbox app, I got an error "Cannot restart" and it gave a link to the file, whose contents I can share if you wish directly, but then I could login afterwards from dropbox app but it is not syncing
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- Jay
Hi BG Mahesh, in general, we don't recommend using migration programs as they can affect the permissions and settings in Dropbox desktop application on the new machine.
Did you disable the computer backup feature prior to the migration, so that the folders would've been in their default locations on the new machine?
No, I did not disable backup before migration. Should I have ideally logged out of Dropbox before starting migration?
Since I haven't really don't anything on the new MacBook, what do you suggest I do? Redo the migration with Dropbox-logged off?
- Jay
As it sounds like you still have the old machine to hand, I'd recommend disabling the backup first, and let it finish returning the backup folders back to their old locations.
Once that's confirmed, you can sign out of the Dropbox desktop application, and then begin the migration process to the new machine.
Signing into the Dropbox desktop application on the new machine will also give you the option to setup the computer backup again, and this time there shouldn't be any errors.
So if I follow these steps, all the files I had backed up from my old machine will now be seen in the new machine, isn't it?
Post that, is there anyway I can use both old and new machine and get the dropbox files on both machines? Basically at work if I work on old machine, at home when I work on the new machine I will see all the changes done on the old machine, isn't it? But for that to happen, I will need to enable the backup on old machine. Correct?
- Jay
The computer backup is different to the normal Dropbox syncing process. The computer backup is just that, a one-way backup to the site that updates whenever you add files in those folders you've selected. They will be visible on the site alone, and can't directly be synced to the other machine, unless you download them manually.
However, what you're describing is just the normal syncing process, so if both computers have the Dropbox desktop application signed into the same account, and files in the Dropbox folder (and not in the folders used for the computer backup), then those files would sync to the other device. You don't need to have computer backup enabled for files to sync between machines.
To summarize,
1. I care only about my FOLDERS to be backed up. I don't want my Computer to backup as I can always get a new system, new OS and just restore backup
2. In view of this, do I disable backup in Old Machine
3. Initiate Mac Migration from Old mac to New Mac
4. Once Migration is done, when I login to dropbox on new Mac, theoritically everything should work, am I right?
