I got a message about renaming my Dropbox Folder upon re-installing. Any ideas?

[Pale_Pilgrim]

I had to uninstall and reinstall dropbox on my work laptop due to some syncing issues. At the end of the reinstall process I got a message saying "There's already a folder named Dropbox(Company Name). Dropbox will rename your existing folder named Dropbox (Company Name) to finish installing" I got the option to "Choose Another Location" or "Rename" I have no idea what to do here. Will selecting either option result in access issues to the company folder?

[Walter · Accepted solution]

Hey there @Pale_Pilgrim  - how are you today?

From what I understand you performed a re-install of our software on your computer and you're now trying to relink your account to the desktop app. 

Kindly note that the Dropbox folder itself is still there even after uninstalling and since you're relinking the same account, the application detects that another Dropbox folder already exists on the computer, and gives you two options: 'Choose Another Location' in case you'd like to move your Dropbox Folder to another location or 'Rename' (since there's already a folder with the same name). 

If you want your new Dropbox folder to be in a location different than your existing folder, click on 'Choose Another Location'.

If you wish to re-install the Dropbox software and you do not want to re-download all of your files from the server, you need to choose the "Advanced" setup option during the installation process and then choose the parent folder of the existing Dropbox folder as the location for this new install.

For example, if your old Dropbox folder was added to: C:\Desktop\Dropbox you would need to choose C:\Desktop and the client will try and create a new Dropbox folder. If you're connecting with the same Dropbox account as before, our desktop app should detect the existing folder and then prompt you to merge the Dropbox folder. Upon merging the desktop version of Dropbox will check the existing files and the server versions and update accordingly.

Please do note that any changes made to the files in the Dropbox folder or on the web interface while the folder was "offline" will generate conflicted copies.

I hope this helps and please let me know if you have any more questions!

[Pale_Pilgrim]

Thank you Walter, this helps.

When I was doing the reinstall I didn't select the advanced option. Is it possible to go back and start again?

Will it work if i exit the install program at this point, go through the uninstall process again and then re-install using the advanced option?

[Walter]

Yes, in this case I'd suggest that you did @Pale_Pilgrim!

Keep me posted on your progress please. 

[Pale_Pilgrim]

Thanks for your help Walter.

I opened advanced settings which is giving me the option to select the location for my Dropbox Folder. The current location is C:\Users\my name\Dropbox (company name), so if I understand correctly my new locationshould be C:\Users\my name

[Walter]

Yes, that is correct if you'd like to link to the existing Dropbox Folder @Pale_Pilgrim.

At that point, as you're connecting with the same Dropbox account as before, the desktop app will detect the existing folder and then prompt you to merge the Dropbox folder. As mentioned, upon merging our desktop app will check the existing files and the server versions and update them accordingly.

Let me know how it goes!

[Pale_Pilgrim]

Thanks Walter, I appear to be back up and running.

[Walter]

Glad to hear that @Pale_Pilgrim!

Should you ever come up with a Dropbox question, don't hesitate to let us know; we're always a post away 

Have a good one!

[tobyd]

I am having the same problem. I already have a large Dropbox folder on my PC laptop and was trying to unlink and then relink the app to see if it would make all the file icons reappear. I ended up reinstalling the app in order to access the advanced options mentinoed above. But when I pick the folder in which my existing Dropbox folder sits, it did ask me if I wanted to add the contents of that folder to my dropbox (not quite the same as "prompting me to merge the folder", but I assumed that was what it meant. But when I selected that, it took me back to the two options "rename" or pick a different folder. I tried the option of picking a different folder and then picking the same parent folder of the dropbox folder again, but it just keeps bringing me back to this two option choice. How do I proceed?

[jallen327]

I'm having this same problem. Dropbox won't merge the old dropbox folder when I'm trying to install. It finds the old folder and offers the Merge option, but it won't do it. It just endlessly loops back to the rename or choose a different location dialog box.

This other support request has pictures of this process (It's on a PC and I'm on a Mac, but the same thing is happening): 

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Installs-integrations/Dropbox-Re-installation-Won-t-Use-Previous-Fol...