File Provider sync done - deleting the previous DB folder

[dgtsf]

I am running macOS Sonoma 14.0 and Dropbox Professional.

I moved back to Dropbox a few days ago after several months of testing the waters with iCloud. (That won't happen again -- I'm glad to be back!). When I re-installed Dropbox, it allowed me to specify where to place my Dropbox folder, so it went into /Users/username/Dropbox. I moved tens of thousands of files from Apple's iCloud folder over to the new Dropbox folder and it sync'd without a hitch. All's well at that point.

I later completed the upgrade to Dropbox's File Provider beta. It was a couple days ago as I had not previously been aware of the File Provider beta and requirements. As expected, Dropbox created a folder for syncing within /Users/username/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox, as required by Apple's API. It appears to have synchronized my folders and files to the new location.

I noticed, however, that my original folder is still there under /Users/username/Dropbox.

I am surprised it synchronized to the new location but did not delete the old one.

Is this a safety precaution in case something goes wrong? Is it safe to delete the old folder? It did not tell me that it was leaving the original folders/files in place, so I am reluctant to delete them without knowing for sure that Dropbox is no longer using that old location.

[Nancy]

Welcome to our forum, @dgtsf!

It sounds like the /Users/username/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox filepath is the one that’s syncing to your web account/our servers now, instead of your old Dropbox folder. However, let’s have a look.

Did you check your Dropbox app’s syncing status to make sure it’s up to date? 

If you open your old Dropbox folder, do you see any syncing icons next to your files/folders? Does the new filepath include all of the files you had previously uploaded to Dropbox from iCloud? 

Let me know.