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Forum Discussion
Managing an external APFS Apple external drive with Dropbox.
I have connected an APFS Apple external drive to my MacBook Pro and chosen certain folders to be synced with DropBox. I do not need to upload anything else on my MacBook, because I am synching with iCloud.
1. Will DropBox keep these folders/files up to date, because I rename them on my external drive on a regular basis?
2. After connecting my iPhone 13 and iPad, Dropbox wants me to upload stuff, but I only need these mobile devices to access what my external drive uploaded to DropBox. There is no direction in using DropBox on these mobile devices. HOME view gives me info that I do not require. FILES wants me to upload, but I only need access what is on DropBox. PHOTOS also wants me to upload and no options to cancel this. ACCOUNT confirms that a percentage of my storage is on DropBox. I cannot navigate to.
3. I have a new DropBox account now, but before I have been using Dropbox for many years. With this new version I need some help in navigating, so that I simply Sync my external drive AND only access this DropBox info from my 2 mobile devices.
Many thanks for your help in advance 🙂
3. If I access a DropBox file on my Mobile device, I would simply download it for my purpose.
- Walter
Dropbox Staff
Hey Jurij Nowickyj - thanks for using Dropbox and welcome to our Community!
When it comes to your concerns now, note that the Dropbox Backup feature is different than the automatic Camera Uploads feature and are not to be confused.
That said, the Dropbox desktop app will keep the files you backed up from the external drive to your account up to date for as long as you have plugged the drive and/or when you force an update through the desktop app via the Backups tab in the app's preferences.
To access the files you backed up from your external drive from your mobile devices, you'll need to use a web browser and navigate to your backups page.
If you'd like those files to be synced, why don't you just copy them in your Dropbox folder so that you can then access them from everywhere, be it the website, your desktop app or even the mobile app?
I hope this information helps a tad and please let me know if you have any follow up questions, Jurij.
Many thanks for your quick reply Walter.
My external drive is connected 100% of the time and I update files only on the external drive.
In the past I dragged and dropped the folders from the external drive into the DropBox folder in my Apple Finder view, however when updating the files on the external drive they did not update in DropBox.
Do I have to drag'n drop my folder from the external drive into the DropBox view, in order to see them online via my mobile devices?
- Hannah
Hey Jurij Nowickyj, if your external drive is backed up to Dropbox with the Dropbox backup feature, any changes you make to your files in the external drive, should update in your backups page on dropbox.com as well.
Now, your backups depending on the version of backup you're using, may or may not be accessible from the Dropbox mobile app.
If you've updated to the new backup experience, backups will only be accessible from the backups page online.
I hope this clarifies things!
