Forum Discussion

kkraft0714's avatar
kkraft0714
New member | Level 1
23 days ago
Solved

I am unable to backup my Seagate drive to Dropbox

I have installed the Dropbox desktop app on my computer but when I open it it just looks like an Explorer window on the Dropbox drive, and there are no options to choose what files/folders to back up. Is that what the Dropbox desktop app is supposed to look like? The chatbot is completely useless.

Theses are the instructions I am trying to follow:

  1. Click the Dropbox icon in your taskbar (Windows), or menu bar (Mac).
  2. Click your avatar or initials in the upper right.
  3. Click Preferences.
  4. Click the Backups tab.
  5. Click Manage backups.

I see no avatar or initials to click on in the Dropbox desktop app. I'd provide a screenshot, but I don't see any option for that.

Thanks.

  • kkraft0714 wrote:

    when I open it it just looks like an Explorer window on the Dropbox drive ... Is that what the Dropbox desktop app is supposed to look like?

    You're opening the Dropbox folder in Explorer; not the Dropbox application.

    kkraft0714 wrote:

    I see no avatar or initials to click on in the Dropbox desktop app.

    You're clicking the wrong icon. You need to click the Dropbox icon in your system tray, near the clock.

     

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    kkraft0714 wrote:

    when I open it it just looks like an Explorer window on the Dropbox drive ... Is that what the Dropbox desktop app is supposed to look like?

    You're opening the Dropbox folder in Explorer; not the Dropbox application.

    kkraft0714 wrote:

    I see no avatar or initials to click on in the Dropbox desktop app.

    You're clicking the wrong icon. You need to click the Dropbox icon in your system tray, near the clock.

     

  • kkraft0714's avatar
    kkraft0714
    New member | Level 1

    Thanks Rich, very much appreciated (but very confusing that opening the app doesn't actually open the app). Now my issue is that my backup is under the Toolkit folder on my Seagate drive, but it's not displayed as a folder option when I attempt to setup a backup from the drive. Every other folder on my Seagate is displayed except the one I want to back up.

  • kkraft0714's avatar
    kkraft0714
    New member | Level 1

    And, as an aside, the chatbot actually did provide the correct solution (pointing to the overflow menu on my system tray) but I didn't have enough context to follow what it was saying at the time.

    • Jay's avatar
      Jay
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Hi kkraft0714, could you let us know the exact name of the folder you want to back up? 

      There are certain folder names that aren't available for backing up due to conflicts with other services.

      • kkraft0714's avatar
        kkraft0714
        New member | Level 1

        Yes, thanks. It's the Toolkit folder, which contains my PC backup, and which I assume is standard with Seagate.

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.

Need more support

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 or Facebook.

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!