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Forum Discussion
Sync a Shared Dropbox folder to my Mac
I'm running the DropBox (DB) desktop app (v172.4.7555) on a 2019 iMac running MacOS Monterey 12.6.5. Those are the current versions of DB and MacOS.
How do I sync a folder someone has shared with me so that it appears in my Mac's DB folder?
There is a "Copy to Dropbox" option, but that creates a separate copy for me alone, which isn't what I want.
Let's answer your questions, Byte99!
For CASE I: You are absolutely correct on your assumption, as for your question, if both of you make changes to your copies and then you click on "copy to Dropbox", a new copy of the updated folder with only Sue's updates will be saved to your Dropbox.
For CASE II: Links are "live", so any changes Sue makes to her folder, will reflect on the link, every time you click it.
However, every time you click on "copy to Dropbox", new copies of the folder will be saved to your account.
Any changes you make to your copies of the folder, do not affect Sue's original folder in any way.
And as for CASE III, you're correct as well.
I hope this clarifies things!
- Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Hey Byte99, thanks for reaching out to our Community.
The shared link is actually a link that gives you view and download access to the folder.
If you want to have edit access to the folder, so that it can be added to your account, the owner of the folder will need to invite you to it.
Once you're invited and choose to add the folder to your account, it will automatically sync to your Dropbox folder and any changes you make, will sync for the other members of the folder and vice versa.
If you have any questions, let me know!
Thanks Hannah. So let me make sure I understand this correctly:
CASE I: Someone (call her "Sue") sends me a link, and I use "Copy to Dropbox". This creates a personal Dropbox folder for me alone. Changes that I make in my folder will have no effect on Sue's folder, and changes that Sue makes on her folder will have no effect on mine -- they are entirely separate.
Question: What happens if Sue and I each make changes to our respective folders, and I do "Copy to Dropbox" again? Will this create a new folder mirroring Sue's folder, or will it overwrite my folder with Sue's current version?
Or does this depend on whether I've kept the name of my version the same -- e.g., if I've kept the same name it will be overwritten, but I've renamed it, then doing this will have no effect on my renamed folder, and will just create a new folder corresponding to Sue's current version.
CASE II: Sue shares a link with me, and gives me View permission: If Sue makes changes to her folder, they will automatically be reflected in mine. But if I make changes to my folder, they will have no effect on Sue's.
Question: What happens if I edit a document in my folder and save it under a different name? During the next resync, will it disappear because it's not in Sue's folder? And what happens if I edit a document in my folder and save it under the same name?
CASE III: Sue shares a link with me, and gives me Edit permission: Any changes I make are reflected in Sue's folder, and any changes Sue makes are reflected in mine.- Hannah
Let's answer your questions, Byte99!
For CASE I: You are absolutely correct on your assumption, as for your question, if both of you make changes to your copies and then you click on "copy to Dropbox", a new copy of the updated folder with only Sue's updates will be saved to your Dropbox.
For CASE II: Links are "live", so any changes Sue makes to her folder, will reflect on the link, every time you click it.
However, every time you click on "copy to Dropbox", new copies of the folder will be saved to your account.
Any changes you make to your copies of the folder, do not affect Sue's original folder in any way.
And as for CASE III, you're correct as well.
I hope this clarifies things!
