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Forum Discussion
Mac: Dropbox Backup - "Error - can't backup this device"
I have an external drive connected to my Mac (iMac 2020. Big Sur 11.7.9. Dropbox 183.4.7058).
The drive shows up on the desktop and there're no issues with it. Approx 2 weeks ago it stopped syncing via Dropbox.
When I go to Backups - status shows "error....can't backup device. Unplug and try again"
I've tried ejecting and reconnecting drive & reinstalling Dropbox. Nothing works in terms of getting Backups to recognise that it's connected.
When I click on "manage backups" the drive doesn't show up there.
I have now started making a duplicate backup of the drive - this new backup does show up in "manage backups" . When I click on the desktop Dropbox icon it shows up there under "sync and backups". However - in Backups, it also show "error - can't backup this drive" under status.
Is it possible to reconnect this original backup so I don't have to sync 2.5TB again?
See screenshots - original backup is "Lacie 16TB", duplicate backup is "Lacie 16TB (1)"
9 Replies
- Walter
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hi Stretch1, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.
Could you try hovering your mouse over the error shown on your first screenshot? Does it give any additional information perhaps?
If you've already reached out to our support team about this, please let us know your ticket ID so that we can look it up as well.
Thanks!
Hi when I hover over "error" the text says "can't backup device. Plug in device again to restart the backup process"
I have tried ejecting and remounting the ext. drive - it shows up on the desktop and functions ok but still shows Error in Backups
Have also tried physically unplugging it, disconnecting the power supply and then plugging it back in, also doesn't work
Yes - have restarted device, reinstalled Dropbox, also reinstalled Mac OS recently but the problem persists.
Feel free to email
hellooo i have the same problem!
- Megan
Hey joacojaviel, let's jump right into this!
Can you let me know if you've tried any of the troubleshooting steps mentioned on our thread?
Also, how is your external drive formatted, and what is the OS you're using on your end?
Let me know more, and we'll take it from there!
Hi! Yes, I tried all the steps. Strong wifi, proper firewall, good condition of the hard drive and cables.
I do the backup once a year. One year per folder. These days I couldn't upload the one from 2024. So I did it before. The one from 2024 is incomplete in Backups
I have macOS Sequoia 15.3, and I think the files are FAT32
- Megan
Got it, thanks for the heads up joacojaviel!
Would you mind also confirming the version of the Dropbox app that you have installed on the device? You can find this by hovering your mouse over the little Dropbox icon on your menu bar, next to your WiFi.
Also, it might sound trivial but have you restarted your device at all? I'd also like for us to try one more thing, please.
Could you ensure you have write access to the drive? Make sure that the group 'everyone' has 'Read and Write' access to the external drive by following the steps here.
