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SteveMouzon's avatar
SteveMouzon
Explorer | Level 3
3 years ago

Changing home folder location - Mac

I just bought a new MacBook Pro and migrated from the previous one which was running Mojave via TimeMachine backup. For some reason, the Dropbox app got corrupted and I had to reinstall. It created a new home folder in my user folder and began to sync everything there, but I already have a folder located somewhere else. But when I tried to select that folder, DB came back with an error: “This folder already contains a DB directory.” Because it’s almost a terabyte, I definitely don’t want to move it somewhere else and have Time Machine backup this new location. How do I go about telling DB to use the existing directory?

3 Replies

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    3 years ago

    Hey SteveMouzon, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

     

    Did you try moving your Dropbox folder's location through the app's preferences as outlined here?

     

    Let me know how you get on, Steve!

  • SteveMouzon's avatar
    SteveMouzon
    Explorer | Level 3
    3 years ago

    Thanks, Walter! I tried that, but what I’m actually trying to do is point Dropbox to where my folder already is, but it said “there’s a Dropbox folder there already.” The reason I don’t want to move it is because Time Machine will probably try to back everything up again. So I’d much rather point Dropbox to where my folder is, and has been for years. I wonder what the cleanest way of doing that might be?

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    3 years ago

    It seems that you're not choosing the correct path there, Steve.

     

    Can you send me a screenshot of the exact error you're getting so that I can have a look too? 

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