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Forum Discussion
Not understanding how syncing works
I've read all of Dropbox's documentation about keeping computers in sync but I still don't think I'm understanding how it works. I have two Mac laptops and all I want to do is 1) Keep local copies of...
Robert F.41 wrote:
What I don't understand is why, if Dropbox is supposed to be keeping the Documents and Desktop folders in sync between the two computers, there aren't Documents and Desktop folders up on dropbox.com?
That's not what Dropbox does. Dropbox will keep the local Dropbox folder in sync between your computers. It does not keep the Desktop or Documents folders in sync between your computers.
The idea behind Dropbox (and other cloud storage/sync services) is that you no longer need a Documents folder. The intent is that you move your files into the Dropbox folder so they can sync to your account and any other computer that you've Dropbox installed on, and work on them from there. Dropbox can only sync the files and folders that are in your Dropbox folder.
Where I believe the confusion is coming from is with the Backup feature. When you enable Backup you're allowing Dropbox to MOVE your key folders, in your case, Desktop and Documents, into your Dropbox folder so they sync, but since this is a backup operating and not just a normal sync, those folders only sync to a specific Mac folder in your account, and will not sync to any other devices.
Rich, thanks for your explanation! So, it sounds like I can do what I want but I need to move the Documents and Desktop folders on each of my laptops from my home directory (/Users/myhome) into the Dropbox directory (/Users/myhome/Dropbox). This way I'll still have local copies on each machine for offline use but those two directories will always look the same on both laptops. Does that sound like the right way to do it? My concern is timing and the synchronization order. It sounds like I would:
- Have all of my files as I want them in the Documents and Desktop folders on laptop 1.
- Ensure those folders are empty on laptop 2.
- Log into Dropbox on laptop 1 and allow my two folders to get synchronized to dropbox.com.
- Log into Dropbox on laptop 2. At this point, the contents of those folders would get pushed down to laptop 2.
Hopefully, logging in from the laptop 1 first, the one with all the files, would ensure that Dropbox doesn't look at laptop 2 which doesn't have any files, and think it should delete all the files on dropbox.com and laptop 1 so that they look like laptop 2.
From this point on, the two folders would always stay in sync so long as I'm online. If I'm ever offline, any changes would get pushed from one laptop up to dropbox.com and then pulled down onto the other laptop whenever each laptop comes online.
And then I could continue to run Dropbox backup on each laptop to ensure that the lastest version of any file on either laptop is always backed up?
Thanks for your help! I greatly appreciate it.
On Windows you can change the location of your Desktop and Documents folders. Right click on the folder and select the Location tab. Then change the location to somewhere under your Dropbox folder and click Move. First do that on one machine, let the files sync to the other machine, then merge anything in the Documents and Desktop folders on the other machine into the folders under Dropbox, then set the location of your Documents and Desktop folders on the other machine (but don't click Move on the second machine, just click OK). (Note: I've done this in the past but didn't test it to verify my comment so proceed with caution. Make copies of everything in your folders before attempting any changes. Once everything is set up and syncing to your satisfaction and all your files are present in Dropbox on both machines and the cloud, you can delete the copies.)
- Rich
Super User II
Jim B.45 wrote:
On Windows you can change the location of your Desktop and Documents folders.
The OP is on a Mac, which doesn't have the ability to relocate those folders, so Jay's comment is correct. The entire Home folder can be moved, but not the individual folders within.
Oops, my mistake. But at least my comment might be of value to Windows users.
