cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 
Announcements
Share your feedback on the Document Scanning Experience in the Dropbox App right here.

Delete, edit, and organize

Solve issues with deleting, editing, and organizing files and folders in your Dropbox account with support from the Dropbox Community.

cancel
Showing results for 
Show  only  | Search instead for 
Did you mean: 

How to move Files to a Folder Outside Dropbox on Mac

How to move Files to a Folder Outside Dropbox on Mac

dianefranklin
Explorer | Level 3
Go to solution

I would like to move some files out of Dropbox to another folder on my Mac, outside Dropbox, in order to archive them but also to have them no longer taking up Dropbox space. After searching the help files, I have found no way to do this. Does any one know if it's possible to do what I want? Thank you.

1 Accepted Solution

Accepted Solutions

Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution

You can definitely do it that way, Diane.

 

Meaning you can just download the files from the website and then delete them from the account. It will work the same.


Hannah
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, give it a Like below to let us know.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Find Tips & Tricks Discover more ways to use Dropbox here!
:arrows_counterclockwise: Interested in Community Groups? Click here to join!

View solution in original post

28 Replies 28

Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution

Hey @dianefranklin, thanks for joining our Community.

 

Do you have the Dropbox application installed on your Mac computer?

 

If you do, and if all your files are set to 'available offline', you should be able to drag them out of the Dropbox folder in Finder, and drop them to any other location you want.

 

This will delete them from Dropbox and move them to the location you chose.

 

If Dropbox space is the issue, you can always make your files 'online-only' or use selective sync, to free up some space, without deleting files from Dropbox.

 

Let me know if you have any questions!


Hannah
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, give it a Like below to let us know.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Find Tips & Tricks Discover more ways to use Dropbox here!
:arrows_counterclockwise: Interested in Community Groups? Click here to join!

dianefranklin
Explorer | Level 3
Go to solution

Thanks for the information. But I could not find anywhere to see the files to be available offline. Can you explain how to set them as available offline?

 

The closest thing I found that might work was being able to download the files to another place on my computer. But that seemed to require me to download the files one at a time. I'd like to move the entire folder at once.

 

Thanks.

Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution

No worries, Diane!

 

You should be able to right-click on the Dropbox folder itself and choose "make available offline". 


Hannah
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, give it a Like below to let us know.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Find Tips & Tricks Discover more ways to use Dropbox here!
:arrows_counterclockwise: Interested in Community Groups? Click here to join!

dianefranklin
Explorer | Level 3
Go to solution

Thanks, but right clicking doesn't work. These are the options I get when I right click on the folder:Screen Shot 2023-08-21 at 9.49.30 AM.jpg

 

I'm working on a Mac, OS 12.1. Any other suggestions?

 

Thanks

Jay
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution

Hi @dianefranklin, you're currently using the Dropbox site. 

 

Please could you open Finder instead and locate your Dropbox folder and check the files there?


Jay
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, give it a Like below to let us know.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Find Tips & Tricks Discover more ways to use Dropbox here!
:arrows_counterclockwise: Interested in Community Groups? Click here to join!

dianefranklin
Explorer | Level 3
Go to solution

Hi Jay,

 

I just did what you requested and "make available offline" is not a choice when I right click in Finder.

 

Any other thoughts?

 

Thanks,

Diane

Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution

Hey Diane, can you send us a screenshot of how your files appear in the Dropbox folder?


Hannah
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, give it a Like below to let us know.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Find Tips & Tricks Discover more ways to use Dropbox here!
:arrows_counterclockwise: Interested in Community Groups? Click here to join!

dianefranklin
Explorer | Level 3
Go to solution

Screen Shot 2023-08-22 at 10.39.44 AM.jpg

 

I couldn't figure out how to attach a screenshot so I just copied the jpg into the message. This is how my files look when they appear in the Dropbox folder.

 

I did figure out how to download Dropbox files to another folder on my hard drive. When I then deleted that downloaded folder in Dropbox, however, it didn't seem to reduce the Dropbox usage. I'm not sure why.

Jay
Dropbox Staff
Go to solution

Are you sure that the folders are deleted from within the Dropbox folder? Do the folders still appear on the Dropbox site when you login to your account?

 

When you click the Dropbox icon once, in the menu bar at the top of the screen, what message do you see on the bottom left?


Jay
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


Heart Did this post help you? If so, give it a Like below to let us know.
:arrows_counterclockwise: Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
:pushpin: Find Tips & Tricks Discover more ways to use Dropbox here!
:arrows_counterclockwise: Interested in Community Groups? Click here to join!

Need more support?
Who's talking

Top contributors to this post

  • User avatar
    Megan Dropbox Staff
  • User avatar
    Phlurim Explorer | Level 4
  • User avatar
    Jay Dropbox Staff
  • User avatar
    Hannah Dropbox Staff
What do Dropbox user levels mean?