Forum Discussion

cjohnston22's avatar
cjohnston22
New member | Level 2
3 years ago

Desktop not in default location

Recently merged filed from old computer to new computer.  Downloaded DropBox to new computer and when attempting to setup automatic backup for new device, the following error message is received...  ...
desktop
Dropbox Backup
Error Messages
Jay's avatar
Jay
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
3 years ago

Hi alitchfi, according to Finder, when you right click the Desktop and Documents folders, and then choose 'Get info', where is the exact location of these folders?

alitchfi's avatar
alitchfi
Helpful | Level 6
3 years ago

OK, this is a bit weird but it looks as though Dropbox has created symlinks to all the standard local user account directories. For example:

/Users/[username]/Desktop -> /Users/[username]/Dropbox/[computerName]/Desktop

 

But the Finder reports an Alias pointing to

/Users/[username]/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox/[computerName]/Desktop

 

This applies to the following folders in the user folder: Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Dropbox, Movies, Music, OneDrive, and Pictures.

 

How is this resolved please?

  • alitchfi's avatar
    alitchfi
    Helpful | Level 6
    3 years ago

    And yes, Dropbox has symlinked itself to itself.

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

      Thanks for the info, I'd recommend contacting the support team to look into this matter further.

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