We are aware of the issue with the badge emails resending to everyone, we apologise for the inconvenience - learn more here.

Forum Discussion

lbh301's avatar
lbh301
Explorer | Level 3
2 years ago

I goofed.... how to move Mac Desktop, Downloads and Documents back to my computer

Please advise if I should post this elsewhere. I think this is my first Dropbox post.

 

I'm on my wife's computer trying to provide tech support. The expression is true for me: I know only enough to be dangerous. 😉 LOL

I just use the brute force method of tech support. So if you have any suggestions, very slowly please.

 

Those three folders disappeared from her Mac.

There were alias folders in her User folder but no originals at the pointed location.

She would take a screenshot and it would disappear and all downloads were missing.

 

I mucked around on her dropbox.com account and found those 3 folders in Dropbox Backup in a folder "Mac (2)"

I checked those three in a list where the unchecked folders were online only.

Now the originals are in a hidden folder inside of a folder "Mac (2)" which is in her Dropbox folder on her Mac.

 

Her missing screenshots are back on her computer desktop and I can also find them by opening the alias folder in her User folder. So that's a step forward.

And the missing downloads are in the Downloads folder.

 

But there are still oddities.

When I take screenshot,  it creates a folder "Screenshots" inside the Dropbox folder and does not go to the Desktop folder and does not show on her desktop.

Also, there is another folder in her Dropbox folder on her computer titled "My Mac (User MacBook Air)". It also has those three folders. I assume that is for her travel Mac.

Lastly, if I go to dropbox.com and find my way to Dropbox Backup, the three folders are there.

 

Maybe it would be best to start over completely with Dropbox and just wipe everything.

I don't know how to do that.

Alternatively, I don't know how to proceed with these three folders to get them back on her Mac completely and then if we want we can set them up so they aren't online only backups. It looks like they are kinds online folders now.

 

I hope this is easy to follow.

 

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. We appreciate.

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

    Hi lbh301, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

     

    As it sounds like the computer backup feature was enabled, are you able to disable it by following these steps?

     

    Keep me updated with any progress!

    • lbh301's avatar
      lbh301
      Explorer | Level 3

      Nope. When I get to the point of Manage Backups I get the attached dialog box.

       

      I suspect I'm missing something very basic about Dropbox.

       

      Thanks.

       

       

       

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

        Hi lbh301, when you visit your Backup page, do you also see the feature being disabled there too? 

         

        Could you also send me a few more screenshots of what you see on the device, as you described it in your initial post? 

About Create, upload, and share

Find help to solve issues with creating, uploading, and sharing files and folders in Dropbox. Get support and advice 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!