You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.

Forum Discussion

John j.15's avatar
John j.15
Explorer | Level 3
2 years ago

Syncing different Apple devices. How to achieve updating the iMac?

Recently (over a month ago) I had to swap out the hard drive on my iMac. I thought the new system would automatically sync with dropbox. Now my iPhone, pad and laptop all show updates as of the old system swap out date, which is what the online version of Dropbox also shows. I do 99% of my work on my desktop iMac, so I need the iMac info to be the online stored information. When I realized this and tried to sync the desktop, Dropbox tries to download the online version of info to the iMac, when I want the iMac information to be uploaded to Dropbox online to be the stored information for all devices. I hope that is not too confusing. Thank you.

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    2 years ago

    Nope, I can't think of anything to be honest, this would be a way to approach it I assume. 

     

    For the files you'd be deleting from Dropbox, you'll be able to restore them from the deleted files page or the events page if needed.

     

    Let us know of any updates John j.15 

  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    Hi John j.15, happy Friday, let's jump into this! 

     

    When you say that you think the system would automatically sync with Dropbox, can you let me know more? 

     

    Keep in mind that your desktop app, should show and sync, what you also see when you visit your account online. Do you see something different on your iMac? 

     

    Do you add content on your iMac, that doesn't reflect online? If something different happens, let me know, and we'll take it from there. I just want to make sure that we're aligned, before I proceed, and give you the next steps. 

     

    Keep me posted! 

    • John j.15's avatar
      John j.15
      Explorer | Level 3

      I'll try to explain this best I can. My desktop iMac (my main device) does not show the same content that Dropbox online, iPad, iPhone or MacBook Pro do, the desktop iMac shows more. My guess is, it hasn't been syncing for a while and I didn't know it. Now I need for Dropbox (and all other devices) to mirror the content on my desktop iMac. I guess the question is, how do I get the iMac content uploaded to Dropbox to be the repository of all my info? Thank you.

      • Megan's avatar
        Megan
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

        Got it John j.15, thanks for that! 

         

        Let's check if the app on your iMac is updated, and syncing properly.  Can you check the app's syncing status, along with its version?

         

        You should be able to do this by hovering your mouse over the little Dropbox icon, on your menu bar, next to your WiFi. 

About View, download, and export

Need support with viewing, downloading, and exporting files and folders from your Dropbox account? Find help from the Dropbox Community.

Need more support

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!