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Forum Discussion

nupa's avatar
nupa
Helpful | Level 5
2 years ago

How to share a Dropbox folder between Windows and Linux installs on the same PC?

Currently it is impossible to share a Dropbox folder between Windows and Linux installs on the same PC. They appear to contain the same files with the same metadata, but Dropbox for Linux refuses to write to an NTFS partition, and similarly Dropbox for Windows refuses to write to ext4.

 

Is there a workaround for this? I don't want two copies of everything. I have been a loyal Dropbox user for years because I believe in supporting software that does one thing and does it well, but this "no mixing filesystems" rule means I have to choose between Dropbox and my dual-boot. I would love it if I didn't have to choose, and I'm sure I'm not alone!

5 Replies

  • ellie123's avatar
    ellie123
    New member | Level 2
    2 days ago

    Coming here to ask if this has been fixed as I also need to share my Dropbox folder between Linus (ZorinOS) and Windows (10) on a dual-boot configuration.

  • ClarineterX's avatar
    ClarineterX
    New member | Level 1
    10 months ago

    Like, excuse me, what? This is extremely disappointing. I just spent the past hour talking to ChatGPT and Claude, trying to work around this with symbolic links and such...with no success.

    Why can't we do this?! Please make it possible, post-haste!

  • edge30's avatar
    edge30
    New member | Level 2
    10 months ago

    adding to this request... it makes no sense to pay for extra storage to dropbox, and having to keep two copies of the files in my pc, one foe windows and one for linux.... it is a total waste of space, completely the opposite of one of the main reasons one pays for Dropbox service.

  • MiaWolf's avatar
    MiaWolf
    New member | Level 2
    10 months ago

    I keep checking back to see if Dropbox is going to let us point to our NTFS partition while on the Linux side again, as that's the only reason I can't do dual boot right now; I don't have enough storage space to double up everything on my laptop >< 

  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    2 years ago

    Hey nupa, thanks for posting here! 

     

    Like you said, at the moment this isn't possible. 

     

    We don't have an official workaround for this that I can suggest, but since there are many users here in our Community that might be experiencing the same thing, they're more than welcome to share their thoughts and workarounds with you here. 

     

    If I have any additional news, I'll make sure to share them with you. 

     

    Thanks!

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