Dropbox Location Change on MacOS 12.6

Hi mrc247, thank you for reaching out.

Full support for macOS 12.5 and higher has started rolling out. Broader availability has begun this month as we work to preserve the reliability and quality of our sync experience. You will be notified when you’re eligible.

If you’re interested in joining our private beta, you can turn on early releases. You can also keep up to date with what is supported on macOS 12.3 and higher here.

Thank you!

Dropbox v161.4.4923 was automatically installed on my Macbook Pro under Mac OS 10.14.6.

My Dropbox folder is still located in my home directory, so it is NOT in ~/Library/CloudStorage.

I have a 2 TB Dropbox Personal Plus account with some 784 GB of data of which 337 GB on the

local disk. 

My question is:

Can I now safely update MacOS to 10.12.3 and later versions? Will the migration of the Dropbox

folder to ~/Library/CloudStorage happen correctly, despite v161.4.4923 already having been installed

on my system before the Mac OS update?

Hi mk53, the rollout to the new location of the Dropbox folder and its other features is being done gradually at this stage.

This means it is not guaranteed that the Dropbox folder would immediately change location when you upgrade.

I completely agree with this comment and its stern tone. This will make people leave dropbox most certainly

Same here, involved in music production and we all rely on Dropbox for our collaborations. This has to be resolved..

I also commented on this issue a month ago and had hoped to hear something 'useful' from the Dropbox team.  They seem to be completely IGNORING our concerns about the relocation of the Dropbox folder and the newly imposed inability to have it reside on an external drive.  I've already moved the bulk of my files to another service (Sync.com) and will NOT be renewing my 2 TB Dropbox plan. While I've used both Dropbox and Sync for the last several years, I had, on the whole, preferred Dropbox.  However, the REQUIRED location change for the Dropbox folder makes it unusable for me on my SSD limited laptops (and even on new Mac desktops which also have small SSD and also lack SSD upgradability).  

Hi mscottpath, we appreciate your feedback on the recent changes to the Dropbox folder location. As part of the Dropbox for macOS update, the Dropbox folder must be located in ~/Library/CloudStorage

Some other things to note about the Dropbox folder location:
 

• Changing the location of your Dropbox folder is no longer supported by macOS. 
• Due to the change of the Dropbox folder location, files that were previously linked in some third-party applications may need to be linked again.
• Storing your Dropbox folder on an external drive is no longer supported by macOS.
• Your Dropbox folder in Finder will now be found under Locations and no longer under Favorites.
• Individual folders can be moved from your Dropbox folder to Favorites for quick access.

As with any operating system, macOS is updated regularly and with that we must keep the Dropbox desktop app aligned with any requirements set out by an OS. 

Keeping aligned to those requirements ensures that the Dropbox desktop app will provide the best possible experience for all our customers in the future.

Jay, obviously Dropbox is being purposefully tone deaf to the concerns of its users.

Multiple post have stated that the inability to place the Dropbox folder on an external drive IS A BIG PROBLEM. None of the response provided by the Dropbox team to date will even acknowledge this is a problem for (at least some) users. I will be cancelling my 2TB plan that I’ve had for years because Dropbox no longer serves my needs. I suspect that Dropbox will be looking at the exodus of a significant number of paying customers as the company does not really seem to understand how much of the user base uses Dropbox.

This is all quite possibly the most egregious failure of communication by a company. College students could study this thread as an example of how not to run a company and communicate with customers. It’s quite legendary as an example of exactly what not to do. 

The number of times someone from the company has copy and pasted the same answers in is laughable, despite so many people asking specific questions and consistently and repeatedly saying those “form” answers are not helpful. Constant repeated questions by the user base being ignored. It’s just staggeringly bad. I am just flummoxed, even just as a business owner who has to handle customer service and getting and responding to feedback myself, let alone as a Dropbox high end user. 

To Dropbox: We KNOW that macOS has implemented a change. Stop repeating this. We get that you’re trying to pass responsibility for this change on to Apple. But as I’ve said previously in this thread, there are workarounds that you could enact for power users, because other sync services are doing just that. AND you should answer the question properly. Is Dropbox ever going to implement a workaround or are we supposed to read the repeated statement that this change implemented by macOS making it not possible to store the Dropbox on an external drive is a permanent thing?

If so, just say that!! That way, everyone who needs to store and sync a large set of files (like the people on this thread, music producers, artists, photographers, videographers) can cancel and find an alternative and move on from Dropbox. Own it. If that’s your decision (dumb as it is) as a company, then state it plainly. Stop the constant deflection about macOS changes and own the truth that you are refusing to implement a workaround. 

Or perhaps you are working on a workaround. Then say that. And state an approximation for the development time. 

We also have to ask the question why a change in macOS would have happened without there being pushback by sync companies. Why isn’t Dropbox fighting the change? Those who store a Dropbox on an external drive are the top level customers who pay the most. Even for self protection it makes no sense for Dropbox to just accept this change in macOS. All the most lucrative users will all be bailing on the platform very soon. Leaving all the free and cheap users who won’t notice that their Dropbox has moved locations. 

Sounds like others have discovered sync.com as an alternative that has a workaround. Owncloud would be another. Even cubbit could be an option very soon. I’m sure there are others!!

Sorry Dropbox, but the way you are handling this is just bizarre, obtuse and totally moronic.