Forum Discussion

Jon C.10's avatar
Jon C.10
Collaborator | Level 8
3 years ago
Solved

Dropbox removing external disk support for Mac users

In case anyone's unaware... if you're a Mac user storing your Dropbox on an external drive, you'll shortly lose that ability.   https://talk.tidbits.com/t/dropbox-drops-support-for-storing-files-...
desktop
dropbox business
Mac
  • BenDBX's avatar
    BenDBX
    2 years ago
    Hi Everybody,
     
    We’re excited to share that external drive support for Dropbox for macOS on File Provider is now available for testing as a beta feature. This is available to some users today and will be available to additional users on a rolling basis. In order to be eligible to test this feature, please follow the instructions in this Help Center article. 
     
    Keep in mind that participation in beta programs is subject to the certain terms and conditions. There are certain additional participation requirements:
    • This beta is only available to US-based users
    • You must be on macOS 15 beta
    • You must have an external drive that is APFS formatted and encrypted
     
    Please let me know if you have any further questions!
psalcal's avatar
psalcal
Collaborator | Level 10
3 years ago

ArthurPix note there are storage providers which are already supporting sync with folders on external drives, like sync.com.  So while I think part of this is indeed driven by Apple, I think the application of the tech and the response on the Dropbox side is clearly driven by Dropbox themselves and their corporate priorities.  


Also.. noting I have had another chat with Dropbox support.  They did not sound in this round of conversations like they were pushing their "blame apple and there is nothing we can do about it" answer.  It DID sound like they were trying to find a solution.  They stopped short of committing to having a solution though.  But as we know, for the time being, they have not been requiring an upgrade to the latest version which moves the folder to the local volume.  So I guess I'm hopeful they are seeing the light here.    

ArthurPix's avatar
ArthurPix
Collaborator | Level 10
3 years ago

psalcal I agree with everything you say.

About Apps and Installations

Have a question about a Dropbox app or installation? Reach out to the Dropbox Community and get solutions, help, and advice from members.

The Dropbox Community team is active from Monday to Friday. We try to respond to you as soon as we can, usually within 2 hours.

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X, Facebook or Instagram.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!