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Forum Discussion
How to migrate a Dropbox folder from one PC to another?
Dear all,
I have a shared physical Dropbox folder on my old PC with all the "original" data in it, which is synchronized with the Dropbox cloud storage.
Now this PC is broken and I want to ph...
ostbeyer wrote:
But in order to download the files automatically, I first need to designate a location on the hard disk, don't I?
But where do I do that?
When you install the Dropbox application it will create a Dropbox folder in your user profile, though you have the option to select a different location during the install process.
Megan
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHi catstepmum, the email states that the transfer would no longer be active after 1 day, not that the content would be deleted.
The link for that transfer would break.
As for your desktop app on the new device, you should be able to link it to your Dropbox account (the one you used to use on the old device), and your content would automatically sync to the new computer.
Provided you used a different account (especially if the account was new, therefore empty) it'd appear as empty.
Dear Megan,
Thanks for this. I don't understand what is meant by 'the transfer will no longer be active' - I've never had a message like that before. As long as the folder is still there, I guess that's fine. I'm afraid I still don't understand how to link the Dropbox on my new Mac to my old account. I did try, but didn't get anywhere - I don't have a record of any password I'd used for the old account (never needed one for day to day use, but I presumably originally had one) but I couldn't find a way to change it - it wouldn't accept the computer sign-in password or the fingerprint recognition or any of the things it was asking me for in order to send me a link to change my password. But I'll try again. Thank you for your patience. I am relieved that my folder is not going to be erased - that's something. If my folders are not being erased after a certain time, I guess I could simply just use this new Dropbox, and transfer stuff out of the old one if I need it. Basically I only really need folders relating to the edition of the journal we're currently working on - I rarely need to consult the folders relating to past editions and can do that via the journal website anyway, once each edition is published. Could you just tell me whether the fact that the transfer is not active will affect my work with the co-editors I share files/folders with?
Yours,
Ann
- Jay
Hi catstepmum, if those co-editors are going to be using that Transfer link to download the files, they won't be able to access it after it expires.
The best option would be to create a shared folder, and invite them to the folder, if they need to edit, delete or add files.
Thanks, Jay. I've always managed to share the folders before, I don't know why this time I did a transfer link. I'll check it out.
Yours,
Ann
- Jay
No worries, let me know if you need any further assistance in the future!
