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Forum Discussion
Why does Apple FileProvider force files into the ~/Library folder which is hidden by default?
Sorry if I’ve misunderstood this article but is it true that Apple’s upcoming FileProvider saves files into the ~/Library folder?
If so, could someone help me understand what the advantage is because it’s a mind-numbingly painful idea for many reasons, one being that ~/Library is hidden by default for most people, another is that all my work data is on a separate disk which there is no way I can change.
And is it really the future of Mac cloud storage moving forward?
Any help much appreciated. Cheers, Ben
- Jay
Dropbox Staff
This thread should help answer your questions regarding the changes of the external drive usage.
Jay Thanks, I found that thread and had a read through, it doesn't give a definitive answer about external drive support other than Dropbox are looking to support users with that requirement. I did also find this thread which seems to indicate that it might be possible to use a symlink to link the "~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox" location to one on an external drive, so perhaps that may be one solution for those who need an external drive.
- Jay
Hi Ben S.31, thanks for messaging the Community.
Currently, the behavior is the default for File Provider devices to have the Dropbox folder located in the ~/Library/CloudStorage location, and as such is set by the OS itself.
Regarding the permanence of this change for Mac cloud storage, I'd recommend you contact Apple directly on this matter.
If you have any further queries, feel free to message back.
@jay I think Ben S.31 perhaps has the same question I have which is whether this is the future for Dropbox on Mac backups? Are we going to be forced to use the Apple FileProvider and subsequently have to have our files in the ~/Library folder?
Ben S.31 Having looked over more of the consequences of switching to the FileProvider version of Dropbox shown on the "Expected changes with Dropbox for macOS on File Provider" page I am definitely going to stay with the regular version for the time being. Asides from the shift to the "~/Library/CloudStorage" folder location there are a few other issues that may be issues for my use of Dropbox, hopefully some of those issues will be resolved going forward, but the shift to the new location is definitely the biggest issue for me.
- Jay
Since it's not something official suggested by Dropbox, I couldn't recommend it personally.
Jay Yep, no worries, I understand it's not an officially endorsed solution 🙂
Maybe I misunderstood something but it is possible to use external drives with File Provider https://developer.apple.com/documentation/fileprovider
