Turning on dropbox backup but folder name is weird

[tjanderson]

I had tested the Dropbox Backup feature in the past so I know that when turned on my Computers should be added as My Mac (Unique Mac Name). I decided to turn it back on again when setting up two new Macs that I have but the backup now creates the folders as just  Mac, Mac (2), Mac (3)

I've gone through the steps of unlinking Dropbox from each computer. Checking their names in System Preferences and also in the Security tab of my Dropbox account. The computer names are correct in Dropbox but the backup feature is still creating the folders as just Mac

[tjanderson]

@Hannah Hopefully you can pass this along to the Product Owner for Dropbox backup cause this is still a MAJOR downfall to Dropbox backup and to me makes the claim listed in the dropbox backup marketing https://www.dropbox.com/backup?_tk=social extremely suspect.

Also the marketing slide does not accurately reflect how Backup actually works. What the picture shows the name as Cobalt in reality is going to be Mac (4) or Windows (2). Maybe the feature to use computer name instead of the OS is rolling out but for now all I see is a lot of false claims from what Dropbox says they do and what they actually do. Would love to see that change

[Rich]

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@tjanderson wrote:

Maybe the feature to use computer name instead of the OS is rolling out ...

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It's actually the other way around. The feature used to use the computer name for the backup folder name, but it was changed (for simplicity reasons?!) to use PC or Mac with a number appended.

[northwork]

I have three Mac computers connected to dropbox, all are now Mac (1), Mac (2), Mac (3) — this is despite them having distinguishable names in the system share settings. Please change this feature so that computers can be named, there is no benefit to this ambiguity.

[MoikeyMoike]

Just posting as it's October 2022 now and Dropbox STILL hasn't even bothered to touch this issue. Setup DB from scratch, added backup for my mac (which is called MikeMBP), and I get a backup named "Mac". Helpful...

[lnzjoy]

It's deeply irritating that my office computers are just backing up as Mac (##). It is increasingly difficult to figure out what computers are what backup, considering they don't reflect the device name, location, or anything remotely helpful. I'm even angrier now that I see this has been a problem for years with no attempted resolution whatsoever. It might be time to switch cloud services...

[Craig E.]

Come on Dropbox, this is amateur bull**bleep**. FIX IT!

[piloteric]

Hi, 

i have the same issue!! Please give us a feature to rename the Dropbox Backup Folder.

[drdragon_]

I have been a paid Dropbox customer for years and now this issue has affected part of our Family shared setup. This is a royal F up on Dropbox's end.

Here's what occurred and why this has affected our account:

Dropbox was installed on a new computer, both Windows devices. Even though the names of the devices were different, Dropbox merely named the new device "PC (2)" and the original device "PC". Eventually I was able to get all of the data migrated over and the original (older) "PC" device was unlinked and removed from the account.

Great, so what's the problem?

Well now due to unknown issues, literally NOT A SINGLE downloaded application or software will install. I don't know if that's related to a syntax error (being that there's a space in "PC (2)"), however I know that the issue is definitively due to this bizarre Dropbox conflict as, upon testing before unlinking the original "PC" device, I figured out that software would ONLY INSTALL PROPERLY if migrated to the "Downloads" folder on the "PC" folder.

This is particularly bizarre and a major issue if additional software cannot be installed.

The Dropbox team needs to expedite the fix to allowing the renaming of devices in order to resolve this highly unusual conflict.

__

EDIT: I have discovered a workaround to allow for downloaded software to properly install. It's based off of the information in a separate Windows forum (https://www.windowsphoneinfo.com/threads/apps-wont-install-from-downloads-folder.476411/). The first suggestion in that link was to go to Properties of the Downloads folder, then Location. "Restore Default" did not work, though I manually renamed the folder path from "...\PC (2)\Downloads" to "...\PC\Downloads". There was a prompt to then say the folder path did not exist, would I like to create it, then would I like to move everything which I did.

That did resolve the issue, HOWEVER in doing so, the result was that a "PC/Downloads" folder would now be created within the main Dropbox folder (rather than the "Downloads" folder being nested within the actual device folder (which in this case would be "PC (2)").

That's not ideal to have essentially a satellite folder. Sloppy job, Dropbox, and this appears to be tied back to the [mind-boggingly stupid] decision to adopt the inexplicable "PC (2)"; "PC (3)"; etc naming convention for multiple devices.

Again I am glad I found a workaround on my own, but the issue is not resolved. Gotta do better, Dropbox team.

[drdragon_]

Yeah this is a remarkably stupid decision by Dropbox. Without having the name of the actual computer (and instead PC (1); PC (2); etc), it's resulted in conflicts preventing software in downloads from properly installing on the "PC (2)" device. DUMB.

[drdragon_]

@Hannah Another irate multi-year Dropbox paid customer here. What absurdity.