Can I sync a folder to an external drive?

[milo97]

I'm on a macbook pro laptop with a 500GB internal drive.

A client shared a folder of multiple video projects that I couldn't see the full data size in dropbox.

I decided to join it as downloading gave the "zip too large" error in dropbox web app.

Left overnight to sync the folder locally and in the moring found an unresposive mac with 50kb left on the harddrive. 

Took days to fix as computer couldn't boot and even the harddrive mounted as a target drive wouldn't allow deleting (new AFPS reality).

Computer now fixed by making a backup and then startingup in recovery mode and using a terminal command to delete the VM drive. I'm detailing this to help any other mac user that encounter this issue.

My Question:  Is there a way to download the shared folder to an external drive?  (i dont need it to stay in sync, I just need the files and the folder structure)

thanks

[Hannah]

Hey @milo97, thanks for posting your question.

Did the folder in question finish syncing to your computer? Or is there a way for you to make some space to allow it to sync?

If you can do that, you may just copy it to the external drive and use selective sync to remove it from your Dropbox folder.

Otherwise, perhaps you can download the files in batches, instead of the whole folder at once.

I hope this helps, but let me know if you have more questions.

[milo97 · Accepted solution]

Thanks Hannah,

The folder to sync was 400GB approx and it filled the drive to the brim and hadn't completed by a long shot.

On chatting with a college I'm using another computer and have moved its dropbox folder to a removable drive and selectively synced the media folder in question.

This will work.

Is there a way I can protect my laptop from dropbox overfilling it in the future?

[Hannah]

Happy to hear that you were able to resolve this, @milo97!

There are a few ways of saving hard drive space with the Dropbox desktop app.

You can take a look here for more info.