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Forum Discussion

2HDD's avatar
2HDD
Explorer | Level 3
4 years ago

Moving from an old Mac to a new Mac are there step-by-step instructions somewhere?

I'm about to get a new MacBook Pro with the M1 chip. My current MacBook Pro is a mid-2012 (old-school) so it's been forever since I've had to set up DropBox on a new computer. Are there step-by-step ...
Desktop
Install
Mac
Setting up the apps
Sync
  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    4 years ago

    Hi 2HDD, thanks for using Dropbox and posting on our Community!

    If you made sure that the app has finished syncing and it's up to date in your menu bar, you can simply quit the app and then uninstall it, if needed. 

    On the new computer, just download and install the desktop app and sign in with your Dropbox account. 

    Let me know if you have any questions. 

ChuckS2's avatar
ChuckS2
Explorer | Level 4

I have well over a TB stored on my MacBookPro. In moving Dropbox to my new MBP, is there any way to avoid downloading all that?  (Xfinity will freak out.). Thanks. 

Walter's avatar
Walter
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
4 years ago

Hey ChuckS2, thanks for joining the discussion here.

When it comes to your concern, note that upon installing the desktop app on your new computer you'll get an option to choose which folders you'd like to be Online Only via our online only files feature and/or via the selective sync feature.

i hope this helps!

  • ChuckS2's avatar
    ChuckS2
    Explorer | Level 4
    4 years ago

    Thanks, Walter.  But what I would really like is to download only the app, and then populate it with data transferred directly from my old computer, thus avoiding the download of any data while retaining all my locally-saved data.  I pictured using Apple’s Migration Assistant (or something similar) to do this. Any thoughts?  Thanks again. 

    • Walter's avatar
      Walter
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
      4 years ago
      In that case, you need to choose the "Advanced" setup option during the installation process. Then you need to choose the parent folder of the existing Dropbox folder as the location for this new install.

      Since you'll be connecting with the same Dropbox account as before, Dropbox will detect the existing folder and will then prompt you to merge the Dropbox folder. Upon merging the desktop version of Dropbox will check the existing files and the server versions and update accordingly.

      Please do note that any changes made to the files in the Dropbox folder or on the web interface while the folder was "offline" will generate conflicted copies.

      Let me know how you get on, Chuck!
      • ChuckS2's avatar
        ChuckS2
        Explorer | Level 4
        4 years ago

        Thanks, Walter, that sounds good. 

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