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Forum Discussion
move contents of dropbox to external hard drive
how do I move contents of dropbox
i.e my files and photos to an external hard drive
thanks folks
- Do you have the Dropbox client installed on your computer? If so, then your files will be syncing to your computer. They'll be in the Dropbox folder. Just copy them to your external drive like you would any other file.
If you're not already syncing your files and you just use the Dropbox website, then you'll need to download your files and save them to your external drive. The easier method would be to install the Dropbox client, let it sync all of your files to your computer, uninstall the client, and then move the Dropbox folder to your external drive. - [mod edit 2023, updated Help Center link]
Like everyone else, I'm having trouble moving files from dropbox to an external hard drive. Why would anyone use dropbox knowing how difficult this is? This is a temp solution with a no-win ending!
jayne wrote:
how do I move contents of dropbox
i.e my files and photos to an external hard drive
thanks folks
- Walter
Dropbox Staff
Sorry to hear you're having troubles using our software me5531 - would you mind elaborating on what exactly is not working for you?
If you want to move your Dropbox files to an external drive you should be able to do so normally supposing the external drive is one of a supported format ( NTFS for Windows, HFS+ or APFS for Macs while it should also work for ext4 on Linux devices) so I would appreciate a screenshot of the error you get, if any that is.
Also, have you heard about Selective Sync which is a great way to free up disk space on any of your connected devices?
Let me know what you find and we'll take it from there. Thank you in advance for your reply.
I need computer directions in simple terms that normal people can understand. I have one file of pictures in Dropbox and now it is saying I need more storage before I can view the next set of pictures which are coming soon. I wanted to move the pictures from Dropbox to an external hard drive without blowing up another laptop. It should be a simple step, but from what I read, no one finds it simple. I don't use an apple product, just a laptop with an external drive. There are 208 pictures in Dropbox (which I don't consider alot) and I can't move them. Help?
- Walter
Thanks for the additional information me5531!
So you get an error when you try to move your files from your Dropbox Folder (on your computer) to your external drive, right?
Would you mind sending a screenshot of the exact error message you get so as to send you the most appropriate next steps?
In addition, as you described this, I understand that your account is close to its storage limits. Is this correct? If so, to get your account under quota (or expand its storage) so as to be able to accommodate the next set of pictures as you put it, you can do any of the following:
- Upgrade your account.
- Increase your quota using referral bonuses or other promotions.
- Leave any shared folders that put you over quota.
- Move files that don't need to sync out of your Dropbox folder.
Let me know how this goes!
Why would anyone voluntarily engage with Dropbox, knowing how impossible they make it to disengage . . . This is a scam.
I dropped Dropbox Pro in favour of Google Drive due to issues with external drives. Google handles external drives much better IMO.
Audio and video professionals need to use externals, sometimes we need to unmount them for transfers etc. It would be nice to be able to do that without thinking that Dropbox is going to register all files as being deleted.
Honestly, I'd sign back up if you could work out a better solution.
