External drive auto backup

I have Dropbox Plus running on a MacBook Air with M1 processor. I have the Desktop app but I cannot get to "Preferences". Whenever I open the App I am just taken to my DropBox folder. Please help!

My OS is macOS Monterey 12.2.1

I can get to preferences by clicking on the Dropbox icon in the top-right (menu bar) of the desktop. It drops down a type of dashboard shown below. Then I click on my account icon in the top-right of the dashboard - a tiny saxophone in this example. That will open up a dialog that has preferences in it.

Thanks very much Steve D. I am sorted now!

As a new user of Dropbox backup I am struggling. I now find that since I implemented automatic backup I am unable to manage my files. I no longer have the ability to rename or delete files in any of my folders. It also means that I cannot move a new version of software into my Applications folder. Obviously I cannot operate like this! A reminder that I am on a MacBook Air with M1 processor running MacOS Monterey Version 12.2.1. Help please. 

This thread is for problems related to setting up an external drive to be backed up. Is that what you are talking about, or are you talking about automatic backup of Mac folders such as Desktop, Documents, and Downloads?

I'm talking about automatic backup of folders. Should I create a new thread?

Hi JohnDawson, how are you today? 

You should be able to find out more in regards to Computer backup in this Help Center article. 

If you need to disable it, follow the steps shown there and that should do the trick. 

Let me know if you have any other questions.

Hi Megan. Thanks I am fine. The link you gave me didn't work. My point is that I DO wish to automatically backup my data to Dropbox but I still need to be able to manage the files on my hard drive.

Hi John. Yes, a new thread might help other people down the line, but I suppose a moderator can weigh in on that. You said you are fine, so I presume you have unchecked the boxes for backup and Dropbox put things back the way they were. At this point, I recommend that you test with a folder that you don't care much about to see how things work before going all in. For me, the Downloads folder was good for testing since I don't use it as a permanent home for anything. You should be aware that when you select a folder for backup, Dropbox actually moves that folder to the Dropbox folder (yikes!) and creates an alias in the original location presumably to make the move transparent to you and other apps that use the folder. These new folders in the Dropbox folder are hidden, but you can see them by showing hidden files in finder: shift-cmd-dot(.). The folder is named .Mac or something like that (don't remember). You can do a "Get Info" on the standard folder (such as Downloads) in your home folder to find out that it is not a "real" folder, but rather a pointer to the one in the Dropbox folder. 

Thanks for your very helpful reply Steve D. I will try your suggestions. My objective was to be able to backup all my data automatically whilst still operating normally on my MacBook. I'll get back to you if I need any more guidance. Thanks again.

P.S. The "Thanks, I am fine" was my response to Megan's "How are you today" - not a comment on my technical situation? 😂

I too have this problem of my external drive not showing up as an option in Backup. I've tried all of the suggestions in the help documents and in this conversation thread. I've talked with several people at Support, who are either sales people or technical people who don't seem to have a solution but won't say so.

I have a Personal Plus subscription with lots of space available. No issue there. My external drive is formatted in one of the accepted formats. Is there a solution to this problem? If so, what is it?

I have also been unable to get clear (admittedly clear to me, a non-specalist!) information or help from Dropbox.

I have at least reached the point where, in my Preferences, I have removed the option of automatic synchronisation of Desktop and Documents, which took me far beyond my limit on the Basic Version. Only Downloads remains, and I actually download into a folder in Dropbox, so the hard disc folder remains empty.

Before I found out how to do this, Dropbox used to start downloading so many things from my hard disc that I was quickly over the limit.

Why don't I move to a higher option? Well, I use Dropbox strictly for safeguarding the files I am working on or recent ones, and about once a month I transfer all completed work to the hard disc. This takes a bit of time, but gives me a chance to revise what I am keeping. I also keep two copies on external hard discs (using AllwaysSync for this synchronisation). In other words, I use Dropbox on line, and all my other content is stored locally.

Thank you for your reply, DenisM5. It helps to hear that you've been unable to get a clear response either.  I'll stop wasting my time beating that bush. I too have two local backups. A sync'd cloud backup of my external drive seemed like a good part of a disaster plan, especially since I have plenty of room in my Personal Plus plan. I'll look elsewhere for options.

In my experience it is not fixed. I still cannot get a prompt for my older Seagate drives. It does work, however for a new SanDisk SSD drive that I acquired. In any case, the feature is poorly documented and designed so I probably wouldn't trust it even if I got it working. They need to make external drive backup configurable in the Dropbox preferences instead of using this unreliable prompt. And yes, Dropbox support appears to be useless in regards to this issue.

I finally ended up putting my Dropbox folder on an external drive and putting my personal backup data in one of its folders. I would recommend encrypting your data before sending it to the cloud, however.

Thanks for your response Steve. I'll stop trying to find a solution and put my my to a different backup option.

Hey everyone, how are you today?

I went through your comments, and I am here to help as much as possible. You mentioned that you've contacted our Support team, right?

If so, would you be able to provide your ticket numbers, just so I can have an idea of all the troubleshooting steps you've followed? 

Thanks, keep me updated!

Good morning, Megan: I assume from your response that you are a Dropbox employee who is able to do something about resolving this issue. Is that a correct assumption?

I was sent a link to a desktop application update by one of the support people with whom I conversed. I’ve installed it, signed out of Dropbox via Accounts, restarted my computer, made sure that "Show setup notifications when new external drives are plugged-in” is selected, plugged in my external drive, which is formatted HFS+ and connected via a USB-C cable, and still it is not recognized. I’ve looked for it from within the desktop app preferences and also opened my account via the website. I've been trying to resolve this issue for 3 days without success. It's been a waste of my time. I'm moving on to looking for other solutions.

Hi Frostinite, thanks for writing back to me, and informing me of this. 

You're correct, and I'd be more than happy to continue looking into this for you, if you want. Provided that you have an active ticket number, have you responded back to it? 

Feel free to send me the number here too if you wish to continue troubleshooting with us. 

The ticket #19482924 I received this yesterday without the issue having been addressed. I replied that I had been very dissatisfied with my experience.

I received this yesterday without my issue having been addressed . . . I replied to the questionnaire that I was "very dissatisfied". 

I found an email from Nathaniel this morning providing me with a link to install an updated version of the Dropbox desktop app. My reply to that email today: "Thank you for the link to the desktop application update, Nathaniel. I’ve installed it, signed out of Dropbox via Accounts, restarted my computer, made sure that "Show setup notifications when new external drives are plugged-in” is selected, plugged in my external drive, which is formatted HFS+ and connected via a USB-C cable, and still it is not recognized. I’ve looked for it from within the desktop app preferences and also opened my account via the website The problem is NOT resolved. I give up! This is a waste of my time!!"  

Hey Frostinite, thanks for the ticket number.

I completely understand your frustration.

From what I can see, the agent on your case has replied back to you, so please make sure to get back to them, so they can continue assisting you.