Desktop Application Will Not Allow Existing Dropbox Folder to Be Used. Error: "The folder already contains a Dropbox directory."

[Eric A.5]

I have been a happy user of Dropbox for years. Until recently . . .

Dropbox recently quit working properly. The latest issue today was that it failed to load the "platform plugin windows." The Dropbox popup suggested that I reinstall Dropbox. So . . . I dutifully reinstalled Dropbox as recommended. However, I do not like to have my Dropbox located in the default . . . Users/User/Dropbox location, but on a separate hard drive.

So as soon as Dropbox opens the first time, it starts syncing to the default location (yes, development team, that needs to be fixed too -- please include an initial inquiry on first startup after install to make sure you are using the directory the user actually wants!).

I paused the syncing, opened the Preferences, went to "Account" and attempted to select a different Location, as ostensibly permitted by the preferences interface. However, when I went to the drive that contains my Dropbox, it refuses to allow me to use that location, because -- wouldn't you know it! -- there is already a Dropbox folder there. Duh! Dropbox told me to reinstall the application, but I don't want to delete everything from my computer and re-sync the entire Dropbox. Of course I already have a folder called "Dropbox". Just let me point to it.

Please, please, fix this ASAP, and don't tell me that this is something you "are aware of and are working on." A decent programmer could solve this issue during his lunch hour.

Bottom line: Dropbox needs to allow the user to specify where they want the Dropbox folder to be or where it already is.

[Syibly Avivy A.]

@Victor W, I am re-install my windows 10 yesterday and also when re-install the dropbox, found those error note "The folder already contains a Dropbox directory"  (I put in drive D)

This what I did:
- Click cancel
- Go to preference
- Account --> Remove (unlink) all account
- Sign out from Dropbox

After that do from start again
- Open dropbox
- this time, there's "Advanced setting" appear. (see image from Simpson above)
- click this advanced setting
- Move the target forlder to our Dropbox folder
- Done 

Then all synched automatically (no need to download hundreds giga again 🙂

Good luck !

[Victor W.]

Thank you Syibly, too late unfortunately ... I have created another directory for Dropbox, copied all the files from the old one there and ... after 20 hours is still synchronizing (the difference was less than 10Mb between the live Dropbox and the one from my computer).

I am not having first issue with Dropbox, years ago they deleted all my files by mistake (100% work related).

Still disappointed that they do not solve this type of issues. As a developer and product manager I cannot understand and accept this from such a big brand.

[Daniel a.11]

So I could manage it too.... Although this manner of reinstall Dropbox is simply SICK!!!!!!

I had to follow the procedure described at least 5 times until I finally got this stupid "Advanced" Option..

Boahhhhhhhhhh.....

However... thanks guys, you spared me several hours of downloading again!!!!

BR,

Daniel

[Paul M.70]

I had the same problem with my Mac. I have dropbox on an external drive and for one reason or other it was unlinked

Linking it again resulted in the same helpful scenario others have described. You can't link to your exisiting dropbox folder because that would make sense and be too easy! 

My solution worked in my case and I hope it might be helpful to others that are equally challenged in this area.

I changed the name of the exisiting dropbox folder on the drive (I put an ! at the start so it would appear at the top of the file list).  Then when I was asked to select a drive to link to I then directed it to this drive.

It created a new folder called dropbox. I paused syncing, renamed the new folder,  putting an x at the start of the name (you're getting an idea of my level of skill in this area by now right?)

Then I removed the ! from the correct folder.

Did it instantly put me in the same position as before?

No, but it only did a file list sync. No files were moved.

Do I think dropbox needs a good kick up the whatsit? Absolutely. This is not something that should be a difficulty for paying clients. 

Do I think dropbox should be monitoring these forums and providing solutions to clients that pay money for their "service"? No, actually I think they have it right. Be totally hands off.  Forget customer service, it's overrated and does not generate revenue. Better to put your efforts into marketing and client acquisition.

What do you think they do all day at dropbox central? Do you think they have any human staff or is it just Siri and some mates? Now don't get me started on Siri. 

Hope this helps.

[Rich]

I have dropbox on an external drive and for one reason or other it was unlinked

The fact that you have Dropbox on an external drive likely complicated the issue. Dropbox does not support external, networked or removable drives. Under the right conditions, data loss can occur.

[Paul M.70]

Not being a IT professional and being a user, my logic is whether my drive is screwed to the inside of my laptop or there is a flexible cord to the drive siting next to my laptop seems irrelevant. A drive is a drive, you should be able to point dropbox to the location of the folder for it to sync.

I'm sure its not the done thing, not by the book, can't be done like that, it's not supposed to be the way, never designed to......etc

But in today's world, service providers that survive work to find solutions to clients needs no matter how unconventional or outside of the box we are supposed to be in. I'm sure if Steve Jobs had said, you're not supposed to use your phone to surf the net and send emails, we'd all be stuck with a little old Nokia.

I'm not giving you a hard time, just supporting the others that had experienced similar problems but they probably had their hard drives firmly screwed into their PC.

In any event, I hope my solution will be helpful to others.

I could find no comments from dropbox support in the forum so maybe providing some comment there about common solutions would be worth considering.

Just not feeling the love.

[simpson b.]

Yeah, Rich.

Steve Jobs wouldn't do that. Steve Jobs wouldn't rely on the users to change anything. He just accommodates everyone. He invented smartphones, don't you know. And the tablet. And the MP3 player. It's not like they hired the guy who really did it and then claimed it. Oh, and the first mobile OS. Don't be a hater.

What kind of company refuses to support things that are explicitly forbidden?

Besides. Paul doesn't understand the difference between internal and external drives so logic dictates they are the same. Why won't you help him? He's not feeling the love. Poor show, Rich. Poor. A shameful display.

Oh, good, my shipment of spiteful irony is here. I'll just lay it here on the table, next to my keyboard. I'll be careful.

[Eric A.5]

Rich R: "Dropbox does not support external, networked or removable drives."

Why would you say that?  Dropbox maps to a drive letter and it doesn't care whether that letter is an internal drive, a thumb drive, an external drive, a virtual file container, or otherwise.  Dropbox certainly "supports" these drives, in the sense that the Dropbox application will work with them (which is the normal usage of the term in this context).

If you simply mean that Dropbox, as a company, does not recommend using such drives and warns that you could lose data if the drive is not set up properly (say, you forgot to plug in your thumb drive and then you tried to sync), then, yes, you might not get a lot of "support" from Dropbox as a company in that case.

But the application definitely supports (will run with) external, removable, networked, and even virtual drives.

[Rich]

Why would you say that? Dropbox maps to a drive letter and it doesn't care whether that letter is an internal drive, a thumb drive, an external drive, a virtual file container, or otherwise.

Because that's what Dropbox (the company, not the software) has said all along. And yes, Dropbox (the software) cares...

Yes, it's possible, with workarounds, but if you're tricking the application to think the folder is being moved to an internal drive, that's not the same as saying that it's a supported configuration. The above error message proves that. Try to move Dropbox to removable media using the option in Preferences, and that's the error you'll see. Trick it, either by using subst or some other process, and yes, it will move the folder as if it were an internal drive, but to say that the application supports the removable media at that point is like saying a half-ton pickup truck can support a 2-ton load. Will it work? Sure. Is it meant to? No. Will bad things happen? Possibly, eventually.

Dropbox certainly "supports" these drives, in the sense that the Dropbox application will work with them (which is the normal usage of the term in this context).

My usage of the term was also correct in the context that it was used in. Please stick to the topic at hand rather than policing my grammar.

Dropbox (the company, not the software) does not support storing the Dropbox folder on removable media. Yes, it is possible, with workarounds, but Dropbox (again, the company) will not support that configuration because data loss can (and does) occur. By storing your Dropbox folder on such media you are risking the loss of your files.

Note: The Dropbox help article about moving the Dropbox folder now states "any location on your hard drive or external hard drive." This is a recent change which I've asked our contacts within Dropbox to clarify given the error message produced above when I just tried to move Dropbox to an external drive as a test.

[Eric A.5]

Rich, I have to respectfully disagree.  The software allows you to use an external drive.  There is even a help page from Dropbox that specifically says you can have your Dropbox folder on an external drive.

Does the company recommended it?  Of course not.  Dropbox doesn't want to provide customer support for all the people who might screw it up.  They hardly provide any customer support as it is, so they definitely don't want to take on something out of the ordinary.

As I said in my post, Dropbox warns about the possibility of losing data *if* your external drive isn't properly connected or is disconnected during an operation.  In other words, similar to the normal concerns of using removable media.  As long as you are careful with your external drive, this should not be an issue.

The software definitely allows (i.e., supports) using Dropbox on an external drive.  I have my Dropbox in a container that I can move around onto external drives, thumb drives, and the like.  As long as I map it to the expected drive letter, Dropbox doesn't care what kind of media it is on.  I've been using this approach for years.

Here are the real facts:

www.dropbox.com/help/89