Backup to external drive of all dropbox files including those not synced to my computer

[KimH2]

I have significantly more data in my professional dropbox account than is synced onto my computer hard drive (it would not all fit). I would like to make a complete backup of everything in dropbox (both files synced to my computer and also those only existing only in dropbox cloud right now. Combined, it is nearly 1 tb and 1000s of files. Is there a way to steamline this that does not require changing my current sync setting to my computer?

[Hannah]

Hey @KimH2, thanks for reaching out to the Dropbox Community.

Backing up your Dropbox files to an external drive is a process that depends a bit on your computer's OS.

If you have a Windows computer, you can move your Dropbox folder (temporarily) to your external drive.

This will give you enough space to sync all your files an once that's done, you can create a new copy of the Dropbox folder that will stay in the external drive and then you can move the Dropbox folder back to its original location.

If you have a Mac computer, using the new Dropbox for macOS version, I would suggest simply syncing your files to your hard drive in batches, copying them to your external drive and then unsyncing them again, to free up the space and so on.

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