Help renaming the My Mac (computer name.local) folder

[ginderg]

Hi, how do i reduce the characters in the name given to to the backup folder "My Mac (macminis-Mac-mini.local)" because I am unable to open some documents as the app I want to use cannot handle paths with components that are too long.

I tried changing my computer name in Apples system preferences but that has not made a difference, so it seems this original name in brackets was stored after the first sync, so there could be some preference or settings file I can change?

I have tried turning off the backup option and that clears out all the folders for My Mac however when I turn on the backup feature they re-appear with the long name in brackets rather than the shorter name given to my mac.

[ginderg]

Ok, I managed to work around the problem by unlinking Dropbox first then linking it again, now its picked up the new computer name.  

However this is not the best solution, Dropbox should allow users to edit the name as required as it took a while to sync my information again, it would have been quicker with a preference setting somewhere.

[dubstepic]

Hi Ginderg!

Could you please explain how you did unlink Dropbox and then link it again without breaking things? I'm having the same issue.

Thanks!

[Megan]

Hey @ginderg and @dubstepic!

@ginderg amazing job on the troubleshooting there. I have to admit, I'm impressed! 

Happy to see that your issue is resolved for now! If you need anything else, don't hesitate to give me a shout.

Also, @dubstepic can you clarify, if you simply want to unlink your Dropbox desktop application or disable the Computer Backup feature? 

Let me know!

[dubstepic]

Hi @Megan!

Ideally I'd like to keep the backup folder but rename it to a more code friendly name (ie: no spaces nor special characters in the name) Instead of the default name "My Mac (computerName)"

Is this at all possible?

Thanks

[Megan]

Hey @dubstepic, thanks for letting me know more about this!

You wouldn't be able to rename the folder, since it's automatically named after the device you're using when enabling the feature. 

However another alternative would be for you to disable the feature, unlink your Dropbox desktop application, rename your device, and then link the app back.

Keep in mind, that this process might cause some files to re-sync.

Would you want to try this? 

Let me know of any updates.

 

[olibclarke]

Hi @Lori,

I would like to try this too - having spaces in file names causes problems for a number of scripts and command line utilies. To be clear though, will this rename the backup folder to, for example, "My_new_computer_name"? Or will it still be in the form "My Mac (My_new_computer_name)"? Because it is the spaces that are a problem, so if this doesn't remove them I don't want to try it.

Cheers

Oli

[ShaneRe]

Having same issue, I wanted to link 3 computers and upgrade the computer names. Unfortunately I now have 3 saved mac's with old long names that don't exist anymore. It would be nice if my mac's could not only share, but also adding a simple user friendly directory name change and associated computer. The renaming issue is a flaw in the backup feature if it does not update when you rename your mac IMHO and I will likely roll back to time machine as a safer option if not fixed by dropbox.

[ELaren]

It would have been nice if this link was included in this thread. It would've saved me 45 minutes of searching around why unlinking and confirming my computer name wasn't resolving my folder being labeled "PC (2)"

[geisery]

Hi ELaren,

So if I understand this correctly, they now even removed this weird workaround to change the computername by unlinking and relinking it? I‘m stuck with Mac(2), too! My other machine has a diffrent name, since it was named before that change…

Really unprofessional for a backup service that costs over 10$ per month 😞