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Reinstalling Dropbox App and Retaining D drive location for Dropbox folder
I recently had to reinstall Windows 10 on a desktop. I had the Dropbox folder installed on my D drive, which is a separate physical drive (not a partition) from my C drive. The Dropbox app was instal...
MWilcox wrote:
The wording is "In which folder do you want the Dropbox folder?" I selected D:\user\me\Dropbox, and now I have a "new" Dropbox folder within my old Dropbox folder, both on D.
The question was asking what folder do you want your Dropbox folder to be located in; not what folder do you want your files in. Basically, you told it to create a new Dropbox folder inside your existing one. What you wanted to select was D:\user\me, and then Dropbox would have detected the existing folder and asked if you wanted to use it.
You likely have two options.
Exit the Dropbox application then uninstall it. Delete the newly created D:\user\me\Dropbox\Dropbox folder, being sure not to delete your original folder. Reinstall Dropbox again and when selecting a location for the Dropbox folder, be sure to select the folder ABOVE your existing Dropbox folder, so D:\user\me. Dropbox should ask if you want to use the existing folder.
The other option is how I move my Dropbox folder to a new computer, rather than re-downloading everything.
Uninstall Dropbox. Rename your existing Dropbox folder to Dropbox_OLD or similar. Reinstall Dropbox and select the location that you want for the Dropbox folder (D:\user\me). When the installation is finished, Dropbox will immediately start to sync. Exit the Dropbox application so syncing stops. Move the content of Dropbox_OLD into the newly created Dropbox folder. When the move is complete, and not before, launch Dropbox again.
At this point Dropbox will begin indexing all of your files. This process will take a while, especially if you have a lot of data to go through. During this time it may say that files are uploading or downloading, but it's only transferring comparison data and any changes that it finds. Be patient and LET IT WORK.
Rich
Super User II
Super User II
MWilcox wrote:
The wording is "In which folder do you want the Dropbox folder?" I selected D:\user\me\Dropbox, and now I have a "new" Dropbox folder within my old Dropbox folder, both on D.
The question was asking what folder do you want your Dropbox folder to be located in; not what folder do you want your files in. Basically, you told it to create a new Dropbox folder inside your existing one. What you wanted to select was D:\user\me, and then Dropbox would have detected the existing folder and asked if you wanted to use it.
You likely have two options.
Exit the Dropbox application then uninstall it. Delete the newly created D:\user\me\Dropbox\Dropbox folder, being sure not to delete your original folder. Reinstall Dropbox again and when selecting a location for the Dropbox folder, be sure to select the folder ABOVE your existing Dropbox folder, so D:\user\me. Dropbox should ask if you want to use the existing folder.
The other option is how I move my Dropbox folder to a new computer, rather than re-downloading everything.
Uninstall Dropbox. Rename your existing Dropbox folder to Dropbox_OLD or similar. Reinstall Dropbox and select the location that you want for the Dropbox folder (D:\user\me). When the installation is finished, Dropbox will immediately start to sync. Exit the Dropbox application so syncing stops. Move the content of Dropbox_OLD into the newly created Dropbox folder. When the move is complete, and not before, launch Dropbox again.
At this point Dropbox will begin indexing all of your files. This process will take a while, especially if you have a lot of data to go through. During this time it may say that files are uploading or downloading, but it's only transferring comparison data and any changes that it finds. Be patient and LET IT WORK.
I have a similar issue to the OP in that I had to reset my Windows 11 Pro installation on Drive C. All of the data on my separate D drive was retained. My Dropbox folder has been on my D drive for years because I don't like keeping data on my C drive and because my Dropbox is now too large for the C drive.
I have uninstalled Dropbox and re-installed it several times to attempt to get it to recognize my Dropbox folder on the D drive. It always defaults to the C:\Users\my_user\Dropbox folder. I sign in, get the 6-digit code, and then click on Advanced Settings. The screen simply will not allow me to select a different location for my Dropbox folder. It shows c:\Users\my_user\Dropbox in the input field. When I click the drop-down arrow, I see a checkmark by C:\Users\my_user\Dropbox and "Other location". If I click on Other Location, the set up simply ignores me and starts to do a Selective Sync. After some time, all of my Dropbox folders/files have been populated in C:\Users\my_user\Dropbox.
In other words, Advanced Settings does not seem to work at all on my computer running Windows 11 Pro.
If I go into the Dropbox app, select preferences > sync and try to move my Dropbox folder location to D:\, the error message is that there is already a Dropbox folder at that location. If I try to move the Dropbox folder to D:\Dropbox, I get a whole download of the Dropbox folder embedded in the directory structure, so my new location for a synced folder becomes D:\Dropbox\Dropbox - a file organization nightmare!
What am I doing wrong? Reinstalling the Dropbox desktop app and pointing it to an already existing Dropbox folder location shouldn't so hard.
#Desktop App #Dropbox folder
- Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hi dearnold, If you're not on a Dropbox Basic plan with more than 3 devices connected, could you try an advanced reinstall of the app using the steps in this link?
During the installation process is when you get to see the Advanced Settings, before the default Dropbox folder is created. From there, you can choose the 'parent' folder to store the Dropbox folder, so if it's D:\Dropbox, you need to pick D:\.
