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Re: Can I save an external hard drive to Dropbox without putting them on in my dropbox folder

Can I save an external hard drive to Dropbox without putting them on in my Dropbox folder?

drmarkellis
Explorer | Level 4

I want to store the contents of an external hard drive to my dropbox, without having to move it's contents over to my internal hard drive on a MacBook Pro. Can I do that?

12 Replies 12

Megan
Dropbox Staff

Hi @drmarkellis, let's jump right into this! 

 

In order to save your hard drive content to Dropbox, you'd either need to copy everything, and paste it inside your Dropbox folder, or enable our External backup feature

 

In the first case your content would be located inside your Dropbox folder. However, if you use our Backup, you can see and sync your external drive on your Dropbox account online, and it will update every so often. It'll be a copy of your files in Dropbox. 

 

Keep in mind that you wont be able to edit the files online, but they will be saved online to download or restore the backup to another drive. Would that work for you? 

 

Let me know more! 


Megan
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


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drmarkellis
Explorer | Level 4

Yes, Meagan, the hard drive feature WOULD work for me. Please inform me more about this. 

Mark A. Ellis

Rich
Super User II

@drmarkellis wrote:

Yes, Meagan, the hard drive feature WOULD work for me. Please inform me more about this.


drmarkellis
Explorer | Level 4

The instructions worked well all the way to "Click Set up." That option is not available on the menu. 

I got to "Backups"

There is a selection "External Drive Backups".

"Show setup notifications when a new external drives are plugged in" is selected. 

 

Screenshot.jpg

I disconnected and reconnected the drive I want to backup on Dropbox

No new notifications appeared. 

There is no "Setup" available under the "Backup" tab. 

There is no "Add a backup"

Thank you for your assistance. I am grateful.

Mark A. Ellis

 

 

Jay
Dropbox Staff

Hi @drmarkellis, do you have a backup for something else already running? Try clicking where it says 'Manage backups'. 

 

You should be able to get the option for the external drive backup from there.


Jay
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


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drmarkellis
Explorer | Level 4

Thank you, Jay. I'll check it out. 

Very grateful for your return message.

Mark

Siem Wigman
Explorer | Level 3

I would like to use this feature as well but I am unable to follow the instructions because my back up preferences seem limited. These are the only options i get? Scherm­afbeelding 2023-10-20 om 16.50.22.png

Jay
Dropbox Staff

HI @Siem Wigman, what OS are you currently running on your device?


Jay
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support


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Siem Wigman
Explorer | Level 3

I am currently running sonoma 14.0 (23A344)

 

Need more support?