Uploading Same Folder - Duplicates or Overwrites?

[Vasquez0689]

Good Morning All,

I keep a work folder on my computer that I make additions/changes to throughout the week. I want to start backing this folder up to my dropbox weekly but I don't want to have to go through and remember which files I actually changed. So my question is if I have a folder that I upload to Dropbox with the same title and most of the same files will it just upload the files that have been changed/added in that folder or will it duplicate everything so I end up with multiple files of the same name?

Not sure if I made that question clear please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks for your time,

Michael

[Walter]

Hey Michael - how are you today?

Could you please let me know if you're running our desktop app at all on this computer (the one you'll be using to do this)? 

If so, just copy or move the folder into your Dropbox Folder and let our app sync the changes you made. 

I hope I am making sense here and please let me know what you find. We'll take it from there then 

[Vasquez0689]

Great point Walter. I am not using the desktop app on this computer. I am on my work computer and syncing through the website so that I can have these files available to my on my home computer for review.

Would the website have the same capability as adding this computer to my dropbox network and just selective syncing the work folder in question? 

Thanks for your time,

Michael

[Walter · Accepted solution]

Thanks for the speedy response @Vasquez0689 - much appreciated.

Your Dropbox folder is just a normal folder on your hard drive (on cumputers that run the desktop app VS accessing your account via a web session). This means that you can drag and drop files into the Dropbox folder and those files will be moved instead of copied.

It's common to assume Dropbox works like a network drive because of its many online features. However, your Dropbox folder is actually a normal folder and its contents are stored on your hard drive. Our desktop app only watches your Dropbox folder for changes and syncs them online and to your other (connected) computers. One of the benefits of this way of syncing is always having access to your files, even while you are offline.

Moreover, note that it can handle files and folders of any size or number (after all it is the preferred method of uploading files) while the web site uploader has a limit of 50GB per file or folder upload. For file or folder uploads that are larger than 50GB you'll need to use the desktop app.

For more information on how to add files using our desktop application, please visit: https://www.dropbox.com/help/desktop-web/add-files 

Finally, note that our selective sync feature is device specific and refers to the desktop application - not web sessions. It is a feature that allows you to choose which folders to sync to a particular computer and it's a great option if you'd like to free up disk space.

I am sorry for the lengthy response, yet I hope this information helps clear things up for you Michael.

Should you need anything else, just let me know! 

[Vasquez0689]

Walter,

Thanks for the quick and detailed reply.

While I do understand and use the desktop app on my home devices I was trying to not use it here at work. It seems like the best and easiest way though so I appreciate you taking the time to answer me!

Have a great day,

Michael

[Walter]

Glad I could help @Vasquez0689 - should you need anything else, just let me know.

Thanks for using Dropbox and enjoy the rest of your day too Michael!