DB desktop move files from old pc to new pc

[Law429]

Hello all. I am getting a new pc. On my old pic I have about 200gb worth of files on the desktop Dropbox. My internet is terribly slow and would take an eternity to download. Can I download my stuff to an external drive. Then get it on to my new pc and link the Dropbox account to that folder without causing major disaster to the sync system? What’s my best move here.

Thanks in advance
LWad

[Rich · Accepted solution]

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@Law429 wrote:
Hello all. I am getting a new pc. On my old pic I have about 200gb worth of files on the desktop Dropbox. My internet is terribly slow and would take an eternity to download. Can I download my stuff to an external drive. Then get it on to my new pc and link the Dropbox account to that folder without causing major disaster to the sync system? What’s my best move here.

Thanks in advance
LWad

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Rename your Dropbox folder from Dropbox to Dropbox_OLD or similar, then move the folder to your new computer. Install Dropbox on the new computer. When the installation is finished, Dropbox will immediately start to sync. Pause syncing or exit Dropbox so syncing stops. Move the content of Dropbox_OLD into the newly created Dropbox folder. When the move is complete, and not before, resume syncing or re-launch Dropbox.

At this point Dropbox will begin indexing all of your files. This process will take a while, especially if you have a lot of data to go through. During this time it may say that files are uploading or downloading, but it's only transferring comparison data and any changes that it find. Be patient and LET IT WORK. It's still going to take a while. DO NOT interrupt the process.

[Elixir]

Hi @Law429, You should be able to transfer your files from one computer to another offline. Few things to remember: 

1. If you have enabled the Dropbox backup feature (which syncs your Desktop, Documents, Downloads etc. alongside your Dropbox folder), those folders won't link to your new computer. New computer will have its own Desktop, Downloads etc. under new computer name.
2. If you have enabled smart sync, certain files might not be locally available if they are set to online only. 
3. If you have set selective sync, those folders/files again not available on your computer locally. 

I think best scenario is if you have all the files available locally. Now in order to setup Dropbox in a new computer, I would suggest the following. 

1. Backup all your Dropbox data from old computer to the external drive. It is good to have the hard drive file format same as your OS. For Windows NTFS, and for macOS APFS are best choices. If you copy to older file systems like FAT, certain file attributes won't be copied and Dropbox might treat copied files separately.
2. Install and sign in to Dropbox in your new computer. Dropbox will immediately start syncing, and create new Dropbox folder. Pause the sync (click the Dropbox icon in the taskbar/menubar → find near the lower left of the window → Your files are up to date/Pause file sync).
3. Copy the contents of Dropbox folder from the external hard drive to the Dropbox folder in your new computer. 
4. Set your Dropbox preferences same as in your old computer (e.g., selective sync settings).
5. Resume sync. It might take quite a while for Dropbox to reindex all your files. Dropbox will check the file hash of your local files and that should match with the ones in its server, so there should be no download. 

[KristinJoys]

I've been a Dropbox member (currently with a Personal Plus) plan for over 15 years. I'm a huge fan and love the service. There are a few quirks that bug me, but overall I'm super pleased.

Tomorrow I will get a new Mac (my first since 2016) and want to be sure that I set things up properly-- with my Dropbox Sync. 

I have the same question as @Law429 and am not sure I'm following the helpful response from @Elixir.

In case it helps to know, I'm moving from a 2016 MacBook Pro (with OS Big Sur 11.7) to a 2022 MacBook Air Apple Silicon M2 (that will run OS Ventura 13). I have a Dropbox Plus - 2TB plan with Extended Version History.

I currently have 316GB of data in my Dropbox folder and want to be sure that when I setup my new Mac, I don't have to wait DAYS for all of those files to download.

I was planning to connect the old Mac & the new Mac with a Thunderbird cable and move the files from the old Dropbox directory to a new Dropbox folder on my new Mac (or, move them to an External Drive and then from the External Drive on to my new Mac), but then I feared that Dropbox might create duplicates of all of the files in the cloud.

I want to be sure that three things happen: 

-the original file dates are preserved

-whatever backup versions Dropbox has stored in the cloud are maintained

-whatever I do doesn't cause duplicates to appear in my DB account

I read and understand the 5 steps below, but I feared that following them might result in one (or more) of the 3 concerns I mentioned above to become a mess. 

Might you offer me step by step instructions as to what to do? 

Thank you! 🤞🏼 ☺️ 

[Walter]

Hey @KristinJoys, sorry for the late reply. Are you still having issues with this?