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Forum Discussion
Transfer Dropbox Backup to New Mac
I recently bought a new Mac and used the Apple Migration Assistant to transfer all of my data from my old machine to my new one. This included the Dropbox folder and everything else. The migration we...
Hannah
Dropbox Community Moderator
Dropbox Community ModeratorThis is indeed a bit strange, creblinho.
Is the Dropbox application still making updates, deleting files, etc. or did syncing finally become 'up to date' by now?
It has stopped now and everything is showing as "up to date". Strangely, my Mac storage space is still showing approximately the same space remaining, but the hidden backup folder is showing as 100 GB less than it is supposed to be on my Mac (but still 250 MB on the dropbox website). I tried putting in some test text files into my backup up folders and it does seem to be syncing the new files correctly.
However, I think I am going to try and disable the backup and hopefully the issues with the drive will be sorted. I really like the backup feature but it seems a bit too unreliable, especially in that it actually moves the physical location of the folders into the Dropbox folder. It seems to work better when backing up external hard drive folders and it does not actually move the locations of those, so maybe I will continue to use it for that. But at this point I am thinking it's best to remove the computer backup and maybe find another way to backup to a cloud server.
I have just realised that the hidden folder at Dropbox/.dropbox.cache/old files is 200 GB of random files so maybe that is the deleted backup and the thing that is taking up all the hard drive space? I have disabled the backup, so what is the best way to clear the data in this folder? Can I delete it all or is some of it needed for normal Dropbox syncing?
If I need to delete the Dropbox folder, re-install and sync everything from the online server again, I am happy to do that.
- Hannah
The Dropbox cache folder will get automatically cleared by itself, so I would actually suggest allowing that to happen, before you resort to deleting files.
Let's keep an eye on it and let us know what happens!
Okay thank you, I will leave it for now and see if it clears. If I wanted to do a full re-install of dropbox however, would it make sense to uninstall everything associated with dropbox, delete the folder, re-install and then have the server sync and replace the folder?
- Jay
Yes, that would be the best bet in this scenario. The optimal order to do so would be:
- Unlink your desktop app
- Uninstall the desktop app
- Follow these steps to fully uninstall it (and delete the Dropbox folder)
- Reinstall the app
- Allow all files to sync down from the site
If you need any further assistance, please let me know.
Great many thanks, I will go through those steps and try to get things sorted again. Thanks to everyone for helping out.
Hi Hannah,
I've just used the migration assistant from my M1 Mac to another M1!!! Both using Monterey and I have a few issues too.
At first it seemed incredbly ok, however, it starded doing another backup of an external SSD drive of mine, so I removed this back up for a while until I solve the basics.
I still have my old machine in hand working well. Can I just remove dropbox from it and keep running on the new Mac?
If so, what steps should I take to do so without loosing data?
Thank you very much.
Pedro
Hi Nancy,
Thanks for jumping in!!
I do have the app installed on both machines. All files already downloaded to the new Mac also.
I've started the new Mac as a "new Mac" and later decided to go on the migration assistant. How bad is that? 😬
- Nancy
Thanks for clarifying, Pedro!
Can you also let me know what’s the syncing status of the Dropbox app on your new device? I’d like to make sure everything’s up to date, before taking any actions on the old computer.
Hi Nancy,
I'ts syncronyzing everything. However, I want to disable one of the folders on my new mac, and it's not allowed, as seen on the second picture and on.
How can I safely delete my OLD MAC files without loosing anything?
Thankyou again,
Pedro
- Walter
Hi there Mamede - sorry to jump in here.
Can you please clarify what you mean you'd like to one folder from syncing on your computer? Are you referring to a folder that you had moved or copied in your Dropbox folder or a folder you had backed up to Dropbox using the Dropbox Backup feature (shown in your screenshots)?
Dear Walter,
Thanks for jumping in.
I'm in big trouble now. I was having problems with my backups, so I've decided to delete them all (the backup of this NEW Mac and the OLD Mac's I've migrated from too) so I could start a fresh backup, and then Reset the OLD Mac so I could sell it.
However, when I deleted the backups it also deleted my NEW Mac's DOCUMENT folder and DESKTOP folder also (the ones chosen for the copy on DBox).
At this exact moment I can't even save the Screen Shot to my desktop folder, since it doesn't exist any more!! I've tried to restore the backup, but it has not brought back the folders, neither the files.
PLEASE HELP! I'm pretty desperate here.
Again, thank you for the help,
Pedro.
- Megan
Hey Mamede, have you checked your account's deleted files page, or into the recycle bin of your device, to see if you can find the deleted content there?
Also, when you check your backup page online, what's the status of your Backup at the moment?
