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bryn1's avatar
bryn1
New member | Level 2
6 months ago

"Some files can't be moved" error when moving Dropbox folder to a new drive

I have an internal 3TB HDD with my Dropbox folder on it (just Dropbox). I have had warnings and seen behavior that indicate it may be shortly about to fail. I have bought and installed a replacement 4TB SSD with the intention of transferring Dropbox to that drive. The process should be simple using the 'move folder' function, but every time I try it gets so far and then a error message pops up saying some files can't be moved.  This is frustrating, I can't seem to root out the problem, there is enough capacity on the new drive. Is there an alternative method for moving the Dropbox folder? Can I move it manually / clone the current drive, change the drive letter of the new drive to match and re-index the new folder location?

 

It is starting to feel like the only solution is to remove the existing drive and force Dropbox to restore everything from the cloud to the new drive, but I have over 2.2TB of data synced, so it will take a long time.

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

    Hi there, bryn1, and welcome to our Community.

     

    Are all the files in your current Dropbox folder fully synced/set to 'available offline'?

     

    I'd suggest right-clicking on the Dropbox folder itself and choosing 'make available offline', to make sure everything is synced and then try to move the folder again, to see if that helps.

     

    Let me know how it goes.

  • itahoki's avatar
    itahoki
    Explorer | Level 3
    To move your Dropbox folder to the new SSD, pause Dropbox syncing and manually copy the folder from your old HDD to the new SSD, ensuring all files are included. Disconnect the old HDD, assign the new SSD the same drive letter as the old HDD, and then resume Dropbox syncing. This method should avoid errors and allow Dropbox to re-index the new location seamlessly.

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