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Unable to move the Dropbox folder to a USB drive. 'Error this folder is on removable media.'
I'm using Dropbox on a Windows 11 Dell laptop with v239.4.8.301, but I can't move the Dropbox folder to a new Sandisk 1Tb USB.
The Sandisk is recognised on my PC as drive 'D:'
I'm currently running out of disk space (1Tb on my hard drive), hence the need to switch to the Sandisk.
I have tried changing the Dropbox to the new USB drive by:
- Clicking on Dropbox.
- Selecting my avatar.
- Selecting 'Preferences' then 'Sync'.
- Selecting the new drive.
I get an error message:
'Error with selected folder. This folder is on removable media.'
Does anyone know how to switch Dropbox to a USB drive?
If its not letting you I dont think it will work. Dropbox isnt designed to work on external drives due to the huge, and real, risk of data loss. For example if the drive disconnects, or connects after Dropbox launches it can cause it to be seen as a mass deletion. There are safeguards in place for this, but, they dont always work.
Would offline files instead help as that would save storage space?
6 Replies
- Mark
Super User II
If its not letting you I dont think it will work. Dropbox isnt designed to work on external drives due to the huge, and real, risk of data loss. For example if the drive disconnects, or connects after Dropbox launches it can cause it to be seen as a mass deletion. There are safeguards in place for this, but, they dont always work.
Would offline files instead help as that would save storage space?
I'm not familiar with offline files. I've also got over 100Gb in Dropbox, so I'm not sure offline files would work as I need access to them 9-5.
- Mark
Offline files would move them to cloud only and download as and when you need access to them. So, as an example, I have about 750gb on my Dropbox but its only using about 60gb of HDD space
Ah, OK, I'm not familiar with offline files.
I tend to use Dropbox to sync files on all my PCs and laptop to make sure they all have the latest content.
Could I have an online version on a PC and an offline version on my laptop?
- Mark
Yes :)
The Offline Sync is machine specific so you can work it however you want across whatever devices you want.
Another option could be to look at Selective Sync (again machine specific) to totally remove directories you dont need on certain devices - so I do that with Music on laptop as it syncs to my phone from desktop, as an example.
Thanks for this, I'll take a look at Offline Sync to see what's available!
