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Forum Discussion

ctyrider's avatar
ctyrider
Explorer | Level 3
21 days ago

How can I have my Dropbox folder on an external drive with macOS on File Provider?

What is the deal with External drive support for Dropbox for macOS on File Provider, as described in this article?   https://help.dropbox.com/installs/mac-external-drive-support   I am on the...
Desktop
Dropbox Backup
Mac
Setting up the apps
ctyrider's avatar
ctyrider
Explorer | Level 3
Rich wrote:
ctyrider wrote:

I am on the ... latest Dropbox client v210.4.4854.  The article vaguely mentions this being in "Beta".

Seeing as this is a Beta feature, I wonder if you need to be running the Beta client. You're running a stable release (middle digit of the version is a 4). Try installing the latest Beta from the Clients Builds section. The middle number in the version should be a 3 for the beta versions.

I tried it with the latest beta build 211.3.5981 - no change whatsoever.  I wonder if this is something Dropbox has to enable on my account server-side.

 

Does anyone actually have this working as described in the article?

Rich's avatar
Rich
Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
17 days ago
ctyrider wrote:
I wonder if this is something Dropbox has to enable on my account server-side.

The article does say "eligible customers."

  • ctyrider's avatar
    ctyrider
    Explorer | Level 3
    17 days ago
    Rich wrote:
    ctyrider wrote:
    I wonder if this is something Dropbox has to enable on my account server-side.

    The article does say "eligible customers."

    It does, but right below, under "Eligibility" it says:

     

    In order to be eligible to store the Dropbox folder on an external drive with Dropbox for macOS on File Provider, you must:

    Be on macOS 15
    Have under 500,000 files in the Dropbox folder on your device

    Support is only for external drives that are both:
    Formatted as Apple File System (APFS)
    Encrypted

     

    My setup is already compliant with all of these.

     

    So Hannah or Megan - can Dropbox explain what's really going on with this feature?   If it's unsupported - "External drive support for Dropbox for macOS on File Provider" article should be removed or updated, so customers like myself stop wasting our time.

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    17 days ago

    Hey ctyrider - could you try the offline installer of the latest stable version of the app from this page directly and let us know how it goes? 

    • ctyrider's avatar
      ctyrider
      Explorer | Level 3
      17 days ago
      Walter wrote:

      Hey ctyrider- could you try the offline installer of the latest stable version of the app from this page directly and let us know how it goes? 

      I am already on the latest stable version, and I've tried the latest Beta build as well, none of this works.

       

      Is there anyone here with some actual knowledge on how this feature is supposed to work, and why it doesn't work?

      • DBX_Pedro's avatar
        DBX_Pedro
        Icon for Community Manager rankCommunity Manager
        12 days ago

        Hi ctyrider,

         

        Just checking in to see if everything is up and running on your end.

         

        Can you let us know if you can access it now?

         

        Thanks.

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