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Unable to update the folders being backed up for External SSD backup
Device MacBook Air 15' Operating System/Browser (if using the web) macOS Tahoe 26.1 Dropbox App Version/Browser Version 238.4.6075 Question or Issue I've been backing up a 2 TB Extreme Pro External SSD that has roughly 1.2 TB of Data on it via Dropbox Backup. The data primarily consists of previous computer and other device backups. Because there is a large number of files between all the data ~2,000,000 , I've been incrementally adding folders for Dropbox to backup from the external drive so it doesn't get overwhelmed with files. I've been able to upload all but one major folder from the drive into the cloud as dropbox is stuck "updating" or "indexing" the same five files on repeat. When I try and update which folders should be updated, no change is made. Thus far, I've restarted the computer, restarted the dropbox application, logged out and logged in to the dropbox application, manually cleared the dropbox cache, and disconnected/replugged the external SSD.
Hidden Dropbox logs folder is stuck, continually growing bigger, now beyond 300GB
Application Affected (Dropbox app & backup) Device (Optiplex 3060 i5-8500, 16GB RAM, 500GB SSD) Operating System/Browser (if using the web) (Windows 10) Dropbox App Version (if using the app) (236.4.5918) Question or Issue For the past few days, a folder called "log" within the dropbox system folders, specifically "C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Dropbox\logs" is constantly growing and growing.. occupying my entire hard disk! please help.. Not sure if they're at all related, but the following points have recently changed in this computer: 1. I bought a new SSD for backup purposes, which I have set to backup by Dropbox It's 2TB, 900GB of which are occupied, it's connected over USB and it doesn't seem to actually backup.. 2. I removed Avast and installed Bitdefender instead. I was running Malwarebytes and Spybot in parallel, though these have now been removed. I have noticed that the Tray Assistant almost maxes out my CPU use, as well.. Any ideas of how to troubleshoot/resolve this? Many thanks!
Using Dropbox Backup with Backblaze or other Cloud Backups no longer works
I use Dropbox Backup but, importantly, I use the setting that means my files are also stored locally, offline, on my computer. For years, I have also used Backblaze as a "backup to my backup" - backing up my locally stored files to BackBlaze just in case I accidentally delete something from Dropbox or there is some catastrophic failure. However, that no longer works. Due to a change in how Dropbox categorizes files - even those stored locally offline - most Cloud backup services like Backblaze can't back them up anymore. This has been discussed here, here, here, and confirmed in my conversations with BackBlaze support. So I suppose my questions are - has anyone else experienced this? Are there any workarounds? And if not, do you feel comfortable with Dropbox Backup being your only cloud backup?
I'm getting an "Attempted to zip too many files" error when trying to restore a backup.
Device (Dell XPS 15, iPhone 13, etc.) Operating System/Browser (if using the web) (Windows 11, macOS14.3, etc.) Dropbox App Version/Browser Version (Chrome 124, Safari 17 etc.) Question or Issue While trying to restore, or in Dropbox's parlance, "Download" an existing backup of a laptop being replaced by a new laptop, I received the error message shown in the title. No further explanation given. I searched for the error in the Help Files and found... NOTHING! I searched here in the Community and found a thread right away from two years ago that described receiving the same error message. One reply was marked as a solution, and although it may have helped with the OP, pointing him to a Help File article on backups, it did not help me decipher the error message or how to work around it. In fact, the article stated that after signing in to Dropbox on the new computer and downloading and installing the app, that I should have been prompted to automatically restore the backup from the original laptop. That did not happen. I can't even imaging how it could happen since the software wouldn't know which device that had been backed up the new device was replacing. This was very discouraging to me in that not only finding out other people had experienced the same issue, but it wasn't acknowledged in Dropbox's Help Files, and replies had been turned off in the thread, despite the lack of a real solution. My fear is that, despite its hefty fees for services, Dropbox backup and restore may not be really ready for prime time. It's pretty obvious that restoring to a downloaded zip file is not a true restore and involves a lot of extra work by the user, even assuming the backed up data is intact. My guess is that Dropbox doesn't have a true restore function, and that also, it has a limitation on the number of files that can even be downloaded in a zip file. Anyone else experienced this error message and actually found a solution?Deliberate omission of critical folders for Basic accounts.
I would like to bring to your attention a concerning practice that appears to affect free-tier users. Dropbox is not any more secure without external backup. It has become evident that certain shared folders (which are visible and accessible in read-only mode under a single account) are intentionally excluded from backups and event logging for users on the free plan. This omission makes it effectively impossible to track or recover any changes or deletions, as: Backup history is almost not available for free accounts. Event and activity logs are retained for only 30 days in the free tier. No relevant events or actions appear in the logs, even when changes or deletions are suspected. This issue has been reported and discussed by multiple users across various forums and communities, with many suspecting that folders are being deliberately hidden or removed in free accounts as a way to pressure users into upgrading to a paid subscription.Moving files on my desktop to the trash deletes them immediately instead.
I am running Dropbox Backup. On MacOS, when I drag a file on my desktop to the trash, it is deleted automatically. In other words, it does not appear in the trash in case I want to recover it later. I get a warning that says "This item will be deleted immediately. You can't undo this action." When the same file is in any other folder or location on my computer besides the Desktop, and I drag it to the trash, the behavior is normal - the files goes into the trash where I can see it and recover it if need be. I am running Dropbox Backup on Sequoia 15.2 on a 2020 M1 Macbook Air. Any thoughts?Dropbox Backup deactivated itself, when reactivated rewrote local folder.
Hi everyone, I’m dealing with a very unusual and serious Dropbox were I'm at risk of losing great portions of my lifes work. I've been in contact with support and I have been elevated to advanced support - but progress is slow. I'm in the middle of a very busy season work-wise and I need at functioning dropbox - which is now paused to prevent further file loss. Short version of what happened: On December 4, I discovered that moving two large Logic project folders (WO23 Logic and WO24 Logic) from my local macOS ~/Music folder into a Dropbox directory had failed — the destinations were incomplete. When checking Dropbox Backup to restore them, I noticed that Backup was shown as “deactivated since August 6”, even though I never turned it off. When I reactivated Backup, Dropbox began creating a completely new backup of my Mac instead of showing any older backup snapshots. During a support call, I was instructed to try clicking “Rewind folder” to check for restore options — but instead of showing versions, Dropbox replaced my local ~/Music folder with a symlink pointing to a CloudStorage path containing only a small, incomplete set of files. At this exact moment, several large conflicted folders were generated. I found a partial (~312 GB) version of the Music folder inside one of these conflict folders, but large portions were missing — especially ".logic" (*Logic the music production app from Apple.) Most harrowing - my most recent huge projectfolder "WO25 Logic" was completely empty). The Logic folders WO23 Logic, WO24 Logic, and WO25 Logic are now either completely empty or far smaller than they should be (originally 30–80 GB each). What is missing: All missing items are .logic project files — dozens of large Logic Pro sessions. Paths involved: Original folder location (not inside dropbox - only backuped up by dropbox): /Users/Christian/Music/Logic/WALLMANS/WO25 Logic Failed move destination (WO23/WO24): …/Dropbox-MoreMusic/08 Arkiver/Logicarkiv/Wallmans Logicarkiv (This is now inside a conflicted folder.) Symlink destination after Rewind failure: /Users/Christian/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox-MoreMusic/.../Mac/Music My main questions: Has anyone seen Dropbox Backup deactivate itself or lose access to earlier backup snapshots without user action? Has anyone experienced Rewind replacing a local folder with an incomplete cloud state? Is it possible that my pre-August backup snapshot still exists in Dropbox’s system even if it isn’t visible in the Backup UI? Advanced Support is investigating, but I would really appreciate input from anyone who has dealt with Backup failures, missing snapshots, conflicted copies created during backup, or unexpected symlink replacements. I've paused syncing on all devices for now - but this seriously halts my workflow. Is it safe to resume syncing? Will dropbox fix itself? Are my backups gone forever because of the seemingly deactivated state from august 6th? Are my missing files from /music-folder hiding somewhere? Thanks in advance.
Not enough storage and missing files after accidentally setting up Dropbox Backup
Hello! I have a client that didn't realize he must've clicked for Dropbox to backup his files, despite having a free account with only 2 GB. Well he got a new computer, and his old drive was cloned to the new computer. Even with Dropbox signed in, the files aren't actually in Dropbox, despite opening programs on the old computer and the path showing something such as: "C:\Users\Owner\Dropbox\My PC (Owner-PC)\Desktop\Clients" The files are accessible on the old computer, despite not showing in dropbox or on dropbox website, so where would I find them since there wasnt space to actually put them in dropbox?
Can't delete backups that have filled up my Dropbox
Dropbox account is over the limit because a few large files were backed up from an External Drive. Unfortunately the Computer that had the external drive attached died and is gone. The list of backup files as seen below: When an attempt to delete some of them is made the option to click on "I don't have access" is shown. Clicking on that prompts you to go to the security tab in Settings and sign out of the device. However, the only device showing there is the one currently being used so it's a dead end. If Backup Settings is selected instead of the "I don't have access" option you just come back to the settings and are told "to manage the settings of External Drive, sign on to that device". How can I delete these backups? Thanks!How can I copy the contents of my Dropbox folder to an external drive?
Device (MacBook Pro) Operating System/Browser (if using the web) (macOS15.6) Dropbox App Version/Browser Version 237.4.5655 I am trying to simply copy the contents of my Dropbox folder to an external hard drive as a backup (not with the intention to save regular working files on the external hard drive as I know that would create a problem when the drive is disconnected. I am super confused by the Dropbox Backup website/app: when I go to manage backups I can't see a clear option of how to select my backup drive (Seagate portable drive) and transfer my Dropbox contents over. Instead it is giving me options to backup the folders on my computer (pictures, documents etc.). Please help! This should be super easy and clear???
