New user needing basic help

[tkcats]

Not sure if this is the right board. It looks like my files are being saved back to my C drive and not online. How can I know if they are being saved online? Also, if my computer crashes, how do I get my files back from Dropbox? (My purpose for getting Dropbox) I'm kinda old and not as computer savvy as I used to be. I looked at the Help options, but couldn't find anything that relates to my questions. I looked at the Help Center, but I don't understand it. It seems that the files I save will go online, but I see a dropbox folder in my C drive that has all my files there. I don't understand. I have Dropbox Basic - the free version - until I can learn to use it and decide if I like it. Can anyone help me?

[Walter]

Hi @tkcats, thanks for using Dropbox and welcome to our Community!

It sounds like you recently installed the desktop app on your computer. Upon installing the desktop app on a computer, a Dropbox folder is created that's being synced across your connected devices and our website. 

You can add files to your Dropbox account by copying or moving files in your Dropbox folder.

If you don't want to keep a local copy of your files in Dropbox, you could uninstall the desktop app and access your files only through our website. 

I hope this helps a tad and please let me know if you have any follow up questions.

[tkcats]

Hi Walter, thanks for responding to my question.

So, if I understand your answer correctly, when I put files in the Dropbox app, they are saved both to my computer AND to Dropbox?

Also, my reason for trying Dropbox is because I want to save everything on my computer, so in case my computer crashes, I can recover everything. Can I do that, and if so, how would I recover everything?

[Jay · Accepted solution]

Hi @tkcats, as @Walter said, the Dropbox desktop application created a Dropbox folder on your computer. Any file you move into that folder will sync to the site. The same goes for any file edited or deleted in the folder, the same file on the site would be edited or deleted.

If your computer crashes, and depending on 'how' it crashes, you should be able to find your files online. If the crash somehow deletes files from the Dropbox folder, and the app has time to sync those deletions, then the files would be deleted from the site as well. They can still be recovered from the deleted files page, however, for 30 days (or more depending on your current plan).