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Jon C.10's avatar
Jon C.10
Collaborator | Level 8
2 years ago

Disaster: Dropbox removing external disk support for Mac users :(

In case anyone's unaware... if you're a Mac user storing your Dropbox on an external drive, you'll shortly lose that ability.   https://talk.tidbits.com/t/dropbox-drops-support-for-storing-files-on...
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  • BenDBX's avatar
    BenDBX
    4 months ago
    Hi Everybody,
     
    We’re excited to share that external drive support for Dropbox for macOS on File Provider is now available for testing as a beta feature. This is available to some users today and will be available to additional users on a rolling basis. In order to be eligible to test this feature, please follow the instructions in this Help Center article. 
     
    Keep in mind that participation in beta programs is subject to the certain terms and conditions. There are certain additional participation requirements:
    • This beta is only available to US-based users
    • You must be on macOS 15 beta
    • You must have an external drive that is APFS formatted and encrypted
     
    Please let me know if you have any further questions!
jaesm's avatar
jaesm
Helpful | Level 6

For me it's this: Preferences>sync tab>dropbox folder location>click the dropdown and select 'other'>then find the drive you want.

I'm on dropbox app v181.3.5613 on Ventura.

Curly123456's avatar
Curly123456
Helpful | Level 6
2 years ago

Thank you, I've found the option

 

This is for work so I hope it's possible....

 

Did it work okay for you, were you able to transfer your existing Dropbox folder from your Mac onto an external drive?

 

(I'm also Ventura, Dropbox version 180.4.4912)

  • jaesm's avatar
    jaesm
    Helpful | Level 6
    2 years ago

    I tested it with a couple gigs worth of files and it seems to work. I'd really like to hear from Dropbox or someone who knows more about the situation. If it is working now, how come no one is talking about it? It makes me think I'm missing an important piece here.

    • GraphicQuarter's avatar
      GraphicQuarter
      Helpful | Level 6
      2 years ago

      It looks like a temp fix at best. They still warn that if you update to the new 'Dropbox for macOS on File Provider' then you won't be able to use an external drive.

      • Curly123456's avatar
        Curly123456
        Helpful | Level 6
        2 years ago

        Well, this is a genuine workaround it seems

         

        I suppose one would just have to never update either the hated Dropbox or the despised Mac OS?

  • beenyweenies's avatar
    beenyweenies
    Helpful | Level 7
    2 years ago

    Curly123456 You can’t ‘transfer’ your files from your local drive to the external. Any time you change Dropbox location, it has to completely download all of your files from scratch again. If you were to move all of the existing files to the new location it would reject that. I’m guessing that it uses the download process to build its database to keep track of which files are local, remote etc.

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