Move DropBox out of Library in OSX Ventura?

[michaelriley]

In OSX Ventura, is it possible to move the DropBox folder someplace where Adobe Bridge can see it (not in OSX Ventura Library)?

I'm a big Adobe Bridge fan, and I wanted to call out a feature that recently became problematic regarding Adobe Bridge + new DropBox folder location. The latest version of Dropbox is now in the Library folder, which is invisible to the Folder tab in Bridge:

Users/Michael/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox

In Adobe Bridge, the Folder tab with twirl-down is the most helpful feature in my opinion, and I’m disappointed this is now not possible because Bridge cannot see any DropBox files in Library.

Is there a way around this? Or is it possible to move the DropBox folder someplace where Bridge can see it (not in Library?). Thank you!

[Hannah]

Hey @michaelriley, thanks for reaching out to us!

As part of the Dropbox for macOS update, the Dropbox folder must be located in ~/Library/CloudStorage.

Some things to note about the Dropbox folder location:
 

• Changing the location of your Dropbox folder is no longer supported by macOS. 
• Due to the change of the Dropbox folder location, files that were previously linked in some third-party applications may need to be linked again.
• Storing your Dropbox folder on an external drive is no longer supported by macOS.
• Your Dropbox folder in Finder will now be found under Locations and no longer under Favorites.
• Individual folders can be moved from your Dropbox folder to Favorites for quick access.

I hope this clarifies things, but let me know if you have any questions.

[michaelriley]

Thank you very much for the reply Hannah.

This will be an issue for many that work remotely:

"Storing your Dropbox folder on an external drive is no longer supported by macOS."

That throttles the usefulness of DropBox for designers that have many projects with many clients.

I've reached out to my contacts at Apple - not sure if it will make a difference though. If you have any work-arounds (other than purchasing computers with 8TB internal SSDs), I'd love to hear it.

[esf]

There are other options from different cloud storage vendors and these other vendors do not seem to have the same limitations as Dropbox. I am testing one of these alternatives now. 

[michaelriley]

Thank you for looking into it! I would love to have the flexibility to decide where to put my DropBox folder. Very much appreciated.

[esf]

I'll post back my findings.

[Nicola L.]

I have a Ventura powered machine that is asking me to upgrade the client so to make the move from ~/Dropbox to ~/Library/Cloud Storage folders. But I do also have an older iMac with 10.13 system… And a couple of other older Macs with Catalina using a 3rd party client.

If I do make the "upgrade" will those clients mantain their sync ?

Thanks

[michaelriley]

I don't know, a great question. I really wish DropBox didn't have to live in Library, and I could choose where I want it to reside.

[dantdavis]

@hannah (Dropboxer)

I've been looking into these issues, and have seen this robotic copy/paste response over and over.

Actually answering the questions asked would be a lot more appreciated.

[michaelriley]

Apple benefits by now requiring users to store files in Library locally. This encourages users to buy a new Mac with a larger SSD hard drive, because they can no longer store DropBox on an inexpensive external drive. Also, it gives preferential treatment to iCloud over DropBox, because iCloud files can live in the Documents folder while DropBox cannot. It’s disappointing because DropBox is infinitely better than iCloud. But in this relationship Apple has more power than DropBox, so here we are.