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Dropbox Backup
121 Topics
Feedback on the Dropbox desktop app and backup feature
WARNING: DO NOT USE! DropBox **bleep**ed up my file system (MacOS) so bad that even my fellow Apple Developers, experts like you find at Stack Exchange, file system experts from the very best data recovery experts, … can’t help. Problem: it blew up mid-backup. what a mess. Marketing nerd answered my call to support - not even doing what they said to TRY. Root cause of this mess: behind your back, without permission, this turd bucket aliases the hell out of your file system. As a 60 year vet of data recovery, even I could not/can’t sort it out. meantime Apple changed the alias = a good thing, but now trying to deal with old/new alias formats. Have enemies given the affected disks to pro-data recovery outfits = “Sorry, even WE can’t figure this mess out”. I even posted volumes of a detailed technical descriptions of the mess, complete with diagrams, file system pics, all with arrows showing how convoluted the mess is. In the end, had to start from scratch with a disk format, reinstall of MacOS, and then painfully BEGIN the process of restoring files from the local disk/cloud backups - AFTER NEUTERING what DropBox did to them all. At this point, years later, I’ve spent no less than 250+ hours on this recovery effort, including writing code to de-alias files/folders one at a time.If you use DropBox, you are naïve. It’s Murphy’s Law. modified for DropBox: It is just a matter of time until it screws you, but good, and permanently!46Views0likes1Comment
"Updating 42 files" on Dropbox icon for over a year and two Dropbox folders in Library
Application Affected Dropbox Mac: Device MiniMacM4, 2024 Operating System/Browser (if using the web) MacOS 26.3.4 Dropbox App Version (if using the app) 244.4.6580 Question or Issue I’ve had the same “Updating 42 files” on my monitor tab icon for over a year. after syncing new addition, it reverts to this notice. There is nowhere I can find what or where these 42 files are to be found. With the disaster of the mixed main filer location since it was moved into the Library, where I now have two folders residing, Things are getting more complicated and less reliable, a situation that seems to go hand in hand everywhere I encounter ‘more complicated.’ In Preferences>Sync>Dropbox folder updates “You are using Dropbox on File Provider. To opt out ... 1st question: how to get rid of “Updating 42 files 2nd question; how to have a single Library folder? Do I have to compare the two folders, file at a time? Cuz that would be a real PIA and I could lose data as several people in this forum have already experienced. files copied with zero info. 3rd question. Does anybody try these new systems out in real world situations? Jay [removed per the Community Guidelines], Kenwood CA51Views0likes1CommentHow can I access my Backup menu on Mac Tahoe?
Application Affected Dropbox automated backups Device Macbook Pro Operating System/Browser (if using the web) Mac Tahoe 26.2, Vivaldi browser Question or Issue i cant find the menu for my automated backup of external harddisk. As they are now full i need to manage them. I looked online, and found a guide thats says i should click on my dropbox item in the menu, and then the backup tab. However there is no backup tab. All in all i am a little frustrated with the DropBox interface. It seems like shared folders, local folders and backups are divided into different silos and some of them - like automated backups - is quite a puzzle to reach. This is strange as this is basically the same function. It would be much more logic to have an overall menu for all dropbox functions, so as a user you are able to acces everything from the same place. So in short - how do i acces my backup menu?63Views0likes2Comments
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!Solved1.6KViews3likes35Comments
Dropbox created a new folder after reinstalling and I can't access my Downloads folder.
Application Affected Drobox Device Operating System/Browser (if using the web) Windows 10 Dropbox App Version (if using the app) Trying to reinstall Question or Issue I let CCleaner clean my Windows 10 desktop registry (I know.... big mistake). Afterward Dropbox did not work. I uninstalled and tried to reinstall (regular - not advanced) The reinstall renamed my Dropbox folder to DropboxOld, created a new dropbox folder and started downloading all my files again resulting in a full hard-drive. Next, I uninstalled it again and tried an advanced reinstall. Same problem. So I uninstalled it again and restarted. Next, I did some more research and found the page https://help.dropbox.com/installs/advanced-reinstall which contained directions for what to do before an advanced reinstall. The only place I found any Dropbox folders was in the PROGRAMFILES. There are Dropbox and DropboxOld folders there. The Old folder seems to have my stuff. The Drobox folder only has a dowloads folder and I get a message saying location is not available. Neither folder has a Client folder. Not sure how to proceed. Thanks!146Views0likes4Comments
How to view my Backup folder on my Mac's desktop app?
Greetings community! Previously, I used to be able to see my Mac represented on my Dropbox as a folder (I had enabled the backup option). This was super convenient because I could easily access my files on-the-go using my Dropbox iPhone app. However, due to a computer issue, I needed to wipe my MacBook Pro clean and reinstall everything (including Dropbox). I enabled backup for my MacBook. However, now, it doesn't show me the MacBook folder like it used to. So I can't access my files on the go. It shows me that I have backed up my files and I am able to see them through a web browser. However, the folder representing my MacBook (backup) has stopped showing on Dropbox. Is this due to some update in how backups work now for Dropbox on Mac? How do I get the backup folder to start showing up on Dropbox again. Thanks!9.1KViews1like26CommentsWhen I try to remove the Dropbox app from my computer I lose access to my desktop folders
Removing Dropbox from my computer is proving to be a nightmare. My computer Operating system is Windows 10. I have managed to un sync from my account and deleted all the folders concerned in my Dropbox account. On my computer the Dropbox folder is located C:\Users\dough\Dropbox and it contains a "PC" folder in which contains Desktop, Documents, and Downloads. Whenever I uninstall or delete the Dropbox folder I lose all the content from those folders Desktop, Documents, and Downloads. I have no need for Dropbox and wish to remove it completely from my computer, would you please explain to me how to do this. I would appreciate it very much. Thank you.Solved14KViews2likes27CommentsLinux commands for Dropbox Backup
I was pointed here to give a suggestion from this thread: https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Dropbox-files-folders/Trying-to-backup-on-Linux/td-p/548352 It would be nice if the functionality was added to (https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/desktop/linux-commands) Some commands like: `dropbox backup enable/disable` and `dropbox backup add/remove /path/to/folder/or/file` Currently the advice is to mount into the dropbox folder (https://askubuntu.com/questions/1366889/how-can-i-use-dropbox-to-back-up-arbitrary-folders/1366896#1366896)7.8KViews8likes8Comments
Desktop folders are unavailable and switched to aliases after deleting the Dropbox app on Mac
I had deleted dropbox off of my MacBook because I was having some glitches with my files and wanted to redownload it. I had continued to save files in my folders saved on my computer that had previously been backed up by dropbox. However, today, I found that my Desktop, Documents, and Downloads folder are all locked and are "alias folders". When I click "get info" there is no information on sharing/permissions, and it says that it can't locate the original folder. I can't save anything on my desktop or download the dropbox app either. Please help me recover these folders!236Views0likes6CommentsDropbox backup does not recognize my 2nd and 3rd internal hard drives.
I am trying to backup some folders from my two data hard drives installed internally on my Windows 11 computer. Dropbox isn't allowing me to choose additional hard drives within my computer, only the HDD which is used for installed programs only, no data such as documents, pictures, music, videos, project data, etc. (that choice box is grayed out) This makes backing up the folders that regularly need to be backed up impossible and makes the backup feature useless for me. Any tips on solving this mystery?570Views1like6Comments
