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

Rico S's avatar
Rico S
New member | Level 2
3 years ago

If Dropbox goes down, how do I access my desktop files?

Maybe I'm dense, but according to instructions the primary file location is Dropbox and the icons on my desktop are just shortcuts to it. So if Dropbox is down, does that mean my files are inaccessible?


  • Rico S wrote:

    Maybe I'm dense, but according to instructions the primary file location is Dropbox and the icons on my desktop are just shortcuts to it. So if Dropbox is down, does that mean my files are inaccessible?


    The Dropbox folder is still a local folder like any other on your computer and exists on your local hard drive. As long as your files are set to Local and not Online-only, you'll still be able to access them if you lose your connection to Dropbox. If the files are marked as Online-only, then you wouldn't be able to access them without access to the Dropbox servers.

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

    Rico S wrote:

    Maybe I'm dense, but according to instructions the primary file location is Dropbox and the icons on my desktop are just shortcuts to it. So if Dropbox is down, does that mean my files are inaccessible?


    The Dropbox folder is still a local folder like any other on your computer and exists on your local hard drive. As long as your files are set to Local and not Online-only, you'll still be able to access them if you lose your connection to Dropbox. If the files are marked as Online-only, then you wouldn't be able to access them without access to the Dropbox servers.

  • Rico S's avatar
    Rico S
    New member | Level 2

    Are my files in the basic version of Dropbox Backup "local only" by default, or are they only online and I have to purchase a premium version to make them local only?

    • Mark's avatar
      Mark
      Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

      Local only is default. You have to actively make them online only etc. 

       

      You can test it by disabling your wifi for a few seconds 🙂

  • xian1's avatar
    xian1
    Explorer | Level 3
    Is it recommended to reboot and reinstall the software? How about logging in again?
    • Walter's avatar
      Walter
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Hey xian1, could you provide some additional information?

       

      Are you having a specific issue that's troubling you?