Move DropBox out of Library in OSX Ventura?

[michaelriley]

In OSX Ventura, is it possible to move the DropBox folder someplace where Adobe Bridge can see it (not in OSX Ventura Library)?

I'm a big Adobe Bridge fan, and I wanted to call out a feature that recently became problematic regarding Adobe Bridge + new DropBox folder location. The latest version of Dropbox is now in the Library folder, which is invisible to the Folder tab in Bridge:

Users/Michael/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox

In Adobe Bridge, the Folder tab with twirl-down is the most helpful feature in my opinion, and I’m disappointed this is now not possible because Bridge cannot see any DropBox files in Library.

Is there a way around this? Or is it possible to move the DropBox folder someplace where Bridge can see it (not in Library?). Thank you!

[imseeker]

Indeed we are... here.

Wars over control of data, and the users are the things being fished for.

And dropbox will get dropped (by me) as they don't seem willing/able to fight Apple's new concepts at control.

[michaelriley]

I don’t have another way to collaborate with other designers, so I’m sticking with DropBox. I am very happy with it other than this issue. My MacBook Pro has an 8TB SSD which is enough to hold my 4TB DropBox directory which is often full. I hope that somehow enough users complain to Apple, so they might reverse this new unhelpful policy.

[dantdavis]

Wow - an 8tb internal SSD.

Guess you can stick with Dropbox. That's great.

A lot of us can't do that.

[Ramon F.1]

I'm trying to understand how best to secure data stored in Dropbox in light of upcoming changes to the Mac version.

I understand that for various reasons (some possibly not under Dropbox's control) the new Mac version of Dropbox will forcibly be stored on the main boot drive under ~/Library/CloudStorage. This is the same drive that holds the OS and User directories, including default locations for potentially large files like Photos. iCloud files are stored there as well.

As of December 2022, most consumer-grade 2022 Macs still top-out at a 2TB drive. In practice, it seems like this means that a Dropbox user on the 2TB plan or larger can no longer store their entire Dropbox locally on a modern consumer-grade MacBook Air, MacBook Pro, MacBook Mini, or iMac. 4TB internal drives are only available on new Mac Studios or Mac Pros at $6,000 and up. So for most Macs on the planet, the Dropbox folder will likely move to an internal drive that is 2TB or smaller.

I don't want to debate this technical decision to move the Dropbox folder to the main drive (many other threads in this forum do that). But all of this data is valuable, and should be backed up. The 3-2-1 backup rule seems to be broadly recommended as a best practice for securing your data. Dropbox itself recommends the 3-2-1 strategy including "you need both onsite and offsite backups".

Thus, it does seem like the forced change of Dropbox folder location means medium-to-heavy Dropbox users (i.e. on the 2TB plan or up) can no longer keep all of their Dropbox files locally on internal drives available on most Macs on the planet. The "online only" option is one way to handle this for day-to-day use, but (at the risk of stating the obvious) online-only files are not available locally to allow for local backups. 

So it seems that following this change, Mac users no longer have a straightforward way to implement a 3-2-1 backup strategy to keep multiple local copies of that data. Dropbox, can you help? Given that you recommend the 3-2-1 backup strategy, how should Mac users securely make multiple local copies of their Dropbox data on an ongoing basis, given current hardware constraint on internal Mac drives? Or do you no longer recommend that 3-2-1 backup strategy?

[mkozlica]

I agree, a lot of us have invested first of all into Dropbox which costs significantly annually, then into external drives just to find out that we cannot use something we are already using.

Not to mention that, as long long-term Dropbox user, we just see more and more increases in the price even though I am/We are loyal customers for years.

Can we maybe make a group request to Dropbox to fix these issues?

I am definitely starting to look for alternatives, because at the end of the day I cannot let the business and clients feel the technical issues I am facing, just cannot be like Dropbox...

[michaelriley]

It's my understanding that the team at DropBox is now unable to move the DropBox directory out of Library as of Ventura. That's a new Apple policy, not a DropBox policy. So I believe this is the wrong forum for this subject. This is my understanding... but DropBox please correct me if I'm wrong. You can visit the "Apple Feedback" page if you'd like to voice your concerns.

[Jay]

Hi @mkozlica, the option to move the Dropbox folder to external drives, or any other location, is no longer supported by macOS. 

This, along with other changes, can be found in this article.

[dantdavis]

What a simple statement FROM A DROPBOXER for an extremely complicated issue.

And to michaelriley - this is why some of us keep posting here versus complaining to apple (which does not care) - if dropbox is willing to just roll over and post pablum, then maybe dropbox is done for those of us who don't have 8tb internal ssd drives like you do.

[Clare H.2]

@michaelriley 

This is incorrect, it is a Dropbox policy. Every other cloud/sync service is able to work with folders on external drives, including OneDrive, which operated on the same kernal extension that ‘necessitated’ this change from Dropbox. It achieves this by using a hidden folder on the external drive to hold the actual files, while having a symlink in the Library/CloudStorage folder (see ‘Using another volume’ section on this page https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/t5/microsoft-onedrive-blog/inside-the-new-files-on-demand-experi... ) That Dropbox cannot do the same thing has nothing to do with Apple.

[esf]

Your post is false. Sync.com and OneDriver drive relocation.  On this point, DB really let us down.