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Forum Discussion
macOS Monterey 12.0.1 - "Dropbox Folder Missing"
The other day, I rebooted my Mac and Dropbox greeted me with the following notification:
"Dropbox Folder Missing.
Your Dropbox folder has been moved or deleted from its original location...
Megan
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHey there thecreativeoffices, I hope you're doing well.
We don't suggest keeping Dropbox on external drives because it can lead to a variety of sync issues, including the one you described.
If you want to preserve space on your computer, you could sync it to your root hard drive but utilize the Selective Sync function to block specific folders from syncing to your computer (they'll only be stored on Dropbox and accessible through dropbox.com).
Also, how do you try to re-link to your Dropbox folder? Do you do it upon installation through the Advanced settings?
We don't suggest keeping Dropbox on external drives because it can lead to a variety of sync issues, including the one you described.
If you want to preserve space on your computer, you could sync it to your root hard drive but utilize the Selective Sync function to block specific folders from syncing to your computer (they'll only be stored on Dropbox and accessible through dropbox.com).
Also, how do you try to re-link to your Dropbox folder? Do you do it upon installation through the Advanced settings?
I appreciate this thread is about 2 years old, but it's become relevant to me. I've just sent a message to DB directly, having read this thread. I feel I have to push back on the advisory not to store DB on an external drive. If, like me, you are a MacBook Pro user with a 3TB Dropbox account, you will know that internal storage comes at a huge premium. I have just shifted from a 1TB Intel i7 MBP to a 516GB M2 Pro. This means I have to be careful with my internal storage. As such I have opted to offload my DB to an external storage device. This is primarily so that I have a local offline copy of massive projects that may otherwise take a long time to download. These are the steps every time I've started up my MBP with the external drive connected:
- Login
- Dropbox folder missing warning pops up
- Close and reopen Dropbox
- Sign-in to dropbox account
- Select external drive for folder storage, as DB is acting as if this is a new setup
- DB starts indexing everything on external drive
- Wait for DB to start its download process
I think the DB platform is a smart solution, but migrating large dropbox folders from internal to external storage is inelegant and time-consuming. I've not had to do this for years, since I've had enough storage to keep what I need online and offline as necessary, and I'm still figuring out exactly how to use my cloud storage going forward. For now, just getting everything download so I have a local copy is the priority.
What is Dropbox doing to ensure its platform can be stored on external drives? If Dropbox still does not recommend it, what are the issues that Dropbox cannot fix? Or is it just not a priority on the task list?
- Megan
Hey there matt_sonicvisor, thanks for posting here!
As a first step, keep in mind that your comments on our app have been quite helpful, and I will do everything I can to ensure that your voice is heard.
I'll forward your feedback to the appropriate areas so we can continue to improve.
In the meantime, feel free to also have a look at this relevant idea, and maybe give it your vote.
Another thing to note, is that we don't advise our users into storing on an external drive. And as you know, if the drive isn't mounted correctly before the app starts, it's a common issue to expect an unstable behavior or even loss of your content.
Also, since we are moving towards an overall migration to File Provider, storing your Dropbox folder on an external drive isn't supported.
Do you think that using an external backup would be a good, working solution for you, in order to keep a backed up archive?
Let me know more!
I just found this post and am having the same issue. I too am a power user and a creative professional that has many terabytes of data and because I'm on a Mac, internal drive space is definitely at a premium. I currently have 2TB internal drive and it is not large enough to house both my Dropbox data as well as all the other data that has to be on the internal drive such as application files etc.
I recently bought a new computer and I am now getting the same warning that the first user posted on this thread. I cannot find a way to restore the location of Dropbox to the external drive the has all my files stored offline. Dropbox has now created a NEW directory called "Dropbox" inside my ORIGINAL Dropbox folder on the external drive. So it is trying to sync a download multiple terabytes of redundant data.
The bug concern here is that Dropbox have seem to move to this new company policy to not only not recommend, but warn people NOT to use external drive due to strange behavior.
I hope they can fix this and find more stability in future versions. If not, I feel I'll be forced to find another solution.......BUT.....
I am still having issues and am not setup on my new computer. Has anyone found a solution to this and how to re-sync a pre-existing external hard drive housing a Dropbox folder to a new App installation on a new machine?
Me too. Though it was internal and now cannot be.
I'm wondering if Dropbox will provide a solution even they don't like external drives?
