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Forum Discussion
Dropbox folder shows as 0kB when using Time Machine to back up on an external drive.
When I create a Time Machine backup on an external hard drive using macOS (latest version), the Dropbox folder with the synchronized data is displayed correctly only on the original Mac. As soon as I connect the hard drive to another Mac, the folder is shown as 0 kB and cannot be opened. Is there a solution?
- Megan
Dropbox Staff
Hey Reinke, let's jump right into this!
As a first step, can you check and confirm if your content is syncing as available offline before you backup your folder using Time Machine?
Also, if you simply try to copy an example folder from within your Dropbox folder to your external drive, without using Time Machine do you notice the same behavior then?
Let me know more, and we'll take it from there!
Thank you! Yes, the data is also stored directly on the iMac ("offline"). As long as the hard drive with the Time Machine backup is connected to this computer, I can see that the backup is performed correctly, and all the data is on the hard drive. The Dropbox folder is approximately 1.5 TB in size. However, as soon as I connect the hard drive to another Mac, the Dropbox folder is displayed with a size of 0 kB and cannot be opened (while other folders like Pictures, Documents, Downloads, etc., are completely visible as normal). Any ideas for help?
- Megan
Hey Reinke, when you connect your hard drive on a different device, do you view its contents directly from the drive itself, or do you copy them over to your Mac?
Also, do you get a specific error when you try to open your Dropbox folder? Also, have you tried copying an example folder without using Time Machine, by any chance?
Thank you. On the original Mac, I set the permissions (Read & Write) for everyone, but I can’t change the permissions on the Time Machine backup. I can see all the other data from the original Mac in the backup (Library, Applications, System, etc.), but the Dropbox folder is showing as empty with 0 KB.
- Megan
Hey Reinke!
Since the behavior of Time Machine is out of our scope, we want to make sure that everything works as expected from our side.
With that in mind, allow me to go back to my last question: Can you confirm that if you simply create a copy of a folder or file on your desktop, or any other location outside of the Dropbox folder, can be opened without an issue?
If so, the other thing we could potentially suggest is backing up the Dropbox folder while the Dropbox desktop app isn't running (if that's possible to do), to see if that makes any difference whatsoever.
To answer your question clearly: yes, I can confirm that. I can open and copy all other data to the new computer without any issues. Only the Dropbox folder is locked. Regarding your second suggestion: even if I stop synchronization, the same effect remains. We also have a second Dropbox account with an old iMac and an older macOS. On that system, we don’t experience this issue; the Dropbox folder can be opened on another computer without any problems. I don’t know if it’s due to the newer versions of macOS, but the problem only occurs on the newer computers.
It is like the issue could be related to how Dropbox syncs files locally. Try checking if the Dropbox folder is being excluded from the backup in Time Machine settings. You might also need to ensure the files are fully synced on the original Mac before backing up see more...
