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Re: Can't move my Dropbox folder to another drive

Can't move my Dropbox folder to another drive

peterjj12346
Explorer | Level 4
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I have a Mac Pro running 10.11.6. I have five internal drives in my Mac Pro, all traditional Mac OS Journaled (etc.). I'm retiring one of my internal drives, one that my Dropbox files are stored on, so I'm trying to move the files from one internal drive to another, by using Preferences > Account > Dropbox location.

 

The original hard drive has 56GB available. The destination drive has 335GB available. My dropbox is about 16GB.

 

Whenever I do it, the progress bar continues (Moving Dropbox (x / 20060 files)) until close to the end, when I get an error message: "Error moving Dropbox. Unexpected errors ocurred. Your Dropbox is ok!"

 

I've tried it multiple times, and have also tried restarting the computer. I also tried simply copying it over manually (it copies fine). But if I do the manual copy, I don't know how to tell Dropbox to "bless" the new location.

 

Any ideas?

31 Replies 31

Vincent2
New member | Level 2
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Thank you for your help Mark. I've submitted a ticket. 

Sanchez
Dropbox Staff
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Hey @peterjj12346, welcome to our forum! 
 
Yeah, the manual copy method of the Dropbox folder is not the ideal way to go. We should be able to get this done using the built-in function in our app’s preferences. 
 
On that note, I would first suggest that you check to see that you’re running the latest stable version of our desktop app (currently numbered 27.4.22 - available here http://bit.ly/2qYqBir ).
 
Other things you can check are folder and destination permissions, and to make sure that no files in your Dropbox folder are in use by other apps. Take a look here https://help.dropbox.com/desktop-web/move-dropbox-folder for more information. 
 
If you’re still having the issue, I suggest writing in to our support team at https://www.dropbox.com/support so one of our agents can further troubleshoot with you.
 
Let me know how this works out. If you do end up submitting a support ticket, you can tell me the ticket number, and I’ll make sure someone gets on it right away! 
 
Thanks

Sanchez
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


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peterjj12346
Explorer | Level 4
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Yes, I'm using v27.4.22.

 

I would check the permissions stuff, but I don't know the location of all those invisible files. (The current location of my Dropbox is NOT the default.) I can change the location of the Dropbox folder, but don't know the location of everything else.

 

I tried to send this into tech support, but every time I do, I fill out the form, click Submit, and it leads me to the Dropbox Help home page, with no acknowledgement that my tech request is received. I tried this in both Safari and Chrome -- same result. If it was successfully received, I didn't receive any acknowledgement (like a support ticket number, e-mail, etc.)

 

Tried it about 5 times...

 

Thanks for your reply and help!

Jane
Dropbox Staff
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Hey peterjj12346

 

Thanks for the swift reply! 

 

I was able to locate your open request and I can see that a colleague has followed-up, asking more details on the case, so that you proceed to resolution. Please check your inbox for their message and let me know if you can't find their reply. 

 

Cheers, 

JaneA

 


Jane
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support

 

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peterjj12346
Explorer | Level 4
Go to solution

I see it, thanks. I'll follow up there with the requested info. Thanks!

Sanchez
Dropbox Staff
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Would you mind taking a minute of your time to fill out a survey sharing your experience using our Dropbox Community? You can access the survey here: http://bit.ly/2lNKIxT
 
Thank you!

Sanchez
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


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Windspeed
Explorer | Level 3
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I'm pretty sure that what I want t odo is simple and straightforward but I'm really struggling to be clear on terminology and 'computer speak'. I've searched hundreds of posts here and all seem to give me part answers but I'm scared to follow the solutions because I'm not sure about the other parts. In essence, I'm worried that getting dropbox to point to my existing files on E: drive will overwrite E: drive folders with what is on the dropbox server/cloud and I need it the other way around....I need to KEEP files on E: drive and copy/sync/write them to Dropbox cloud/server.

So...

I've had dropbox for years but a week ago it was either uninstalled or otherwise disappeared.

Ths morning I followed Support advice to

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Desktop-client-builds/bd-p/101003016 and downloaded/installed Stable version 28.4.14.

I was led to understand that at some stage through the install it would ask me where I wanted it to 'point' to find my existing 'dropbox folder' where I store all the files I want to sync/share but it just installed itself into C:/program files (x86). (That's ok with me....what would I know??) but it then seems to have loaded all the files that were on the Dropbox Server/Cloud thingie back to my computer to C:\Users\(my name)\Dropbox.

I gather it should be a pretty simple exercise to:-

Right click on the Dropbox icon in System Tray (bottom right corner beside Clock/Date)

Left click on the Gear cog to open Settings

Click Preferences

Click Account

Click 'move' beside Location and simply

Point to E:\Data\Dropbox.

3 questions then:-

1. Is this correct?

2. How do I make sure it sends the files from my E: drive to the cloud/server thingie instead of sending what's already in the cloud/server thingie to my E: thereby deleting or overwriting what's in the E: Drive?

(or...am I better off un-installing Dropbox again and finding some way to interupt it's re-installation so it will point to the E:\Data\Dropbox?)

3. I understand from other posts that it will create a folder called 'dropbox' inside my existing E:\Data\Dropbox. If this is true, can I simply pick up all of the folders and files inside this new 'dropbox' and drop them one level up the tree into the old, existing 'dropbox'?

 

I've got lots of other questions about terminology but I'll take this one step at a time.

Thanks

Chris

Windspeed
Explorer | Level 3
Go to solution
Sorry, I should mention that C: and E: are just partitions on the same computer hard drive. Thanks

Jane
Dropbox Staff
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I'm just updating our troubleshooting steps here, so that other users who are experiencing the same issue find them in the future!
 
#1. As a first step we removed Symlinks (If you’re unsure on whether you’re using Symlinks, please have a look at the steps here): 
 
  •  Open your Terminal app (Located at /Applications/Utilities/Terminal). You can also search for "Terminal" using the magnifying glass at the top of your screen.
 
  • Copy and paste the following line into the Terminal: 
 
(NOTE: If your Dropbox account is located on  "/Users/JaneA/Dropbox", then fill in the command line as below)
 
find "/Users/JaneA/Dropbox" -type l -exec ls -lah {} \;
 
The above should give you a list of symlinks in your Dropbox folder and where they point to. 
 
#2. Unlink the Dropbox folder from your desktop
 
Once you unlink your computer, Dropbox will prompt you to sign in again.
 
#3. Relink the Dropbox folder to your desktop. Because you'l sign in with the same account, the app will seamlessly resume syncing for the Dropbox folder in the existing location. If the location or name of the folder has changed, you'll need to select this location manually.
 
 
 
#6. Manually copy the files to the new location.
 
#7. Resume syncing following the steps on the fourth step.

 

Warm regards, 
JaneA

 


Jane
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support

 

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Jane
Dropbox Staff
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Hey @Windspeed

 

Sorry to get back to you in delay.

 

Have you been able to move your Dropbox folder to your E:\ drive

 

If you need further help, please let me know, I'll be following this thread from this point onwards. 

 

Thanks, 

JaneA

 


Jane
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support

 

Heart Did this post help you? If so please give it a Like below. 
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Questions asked in the community will likely receive an answer within 4 hours!)

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