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Forum Discussion
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://help.dropbox.com/installs/macos-support-for-expected-changes
Just confirmed this with DB support (see below). Gutted - been with Dropbox for years and our entire video team flow is based around it 😕
>Hi there, I read today that you are scrapping the ability to store the Dropbox folder on external disks, on OSX. I'd like to ask more about this please.
> Hello Jon, and thank you for contacting Dropbox Support. My name is Joseph, and I will be more than happy to look into your request, right away.
That is correct Jon, as part of the Dropbox for macOS update, the Dropbox folder must be located in ~/Library/CloudStorage.
>This is a showstopper for us, and will mean we have to move to another service. We have a large distributed team using DB for video work, no way it'll fit within internal drives.
Is there a workaround?
> I totally understand and I apologize for the inconvenience. Unfortunately, there is no workaround on this as changing the location of your Dropbox folder is no longer supported by macOS.
>This change doesn't seem to have hit us yet - we're running a variety of machines inc Ventura
What will trigger its enforcement? Can we stay on an earlier OS or Dropbox version?
>The updates happening automatically every time the Dropbox app is restarting, for example if your device never restarts it should maintain the older version but we can't guarantee full functionality on older versions of the application.
>So what will happen - if we have a Dropbox folder on an 8TB drive and a tiny internal drive - will it try to clone stuff across and eat up the space? What's the mechanism?
>That's right, it will try to move the content on your internal drive until it has no space and gives you an error.
>Is Smartsync still supported? I.e. will it move stuff to being online only if it won't fit?
>It is, however it is now known as online-only.
This is a disaster for our my small business. We have 5 Mac Mini's with tiny 250gb hard drives, which run Dropbox on external SSDs (formatted to the AFPS system). I literally setup a new Mac Mini this weekend this way.
Now I am reading that Dropbox just won't work on them at all? So Dropbox has to use what little space is available in the 250gb internal drives??
If this is true...we will have no choice but to leave Dropbox and migrate to something else.
- We are in the same boat. We pay Dropbox thousands a year, I’ve just been talking to support about getting a partial refund when we cancel our account once we work out wth to replace it with :-/. Disaster is right.
Has this change already happened? I just checked one of our Mac Minis and the Dropbox folder is still on the external SSD.
Unfortunately, it sounds like the change is being driven by Apple itself, not by Dropbox, which may mean that all alternative services face a similar limitation. If you continue to use Macs running Ventura or later, you may need to find another way to work or acquire machines with more internal storage (which a cynic might suspect as a reason for Apple to make the change).
So for older systems on older OS's this will or will not happen? ie my main rig is on Catalina and I wasn't planning on upgrading it anytime soon. Will I need to find another solution for our 20TB dropbox?? holy moly this is a disaster.
Do you know of an alternative service that will allow it? I thought it was Apple's fault, so i'm wondering if we just have to all move to Windows. Yuck.
jahshwa I’ve posted about this previously, but I am now using a service called Sync.com, which is not perfect, but terrific for my needs. It’s based in Canada and committed to supporting users with external drives. One other user found their service too slow for his very heavy needs, but I’m very comfortable with them, YMMV, but you may want to give Sync.com a shot.
- +1 that will cancel this service if there is no change or option
I'm very confused about what is happening with Dropbox. I've read the help documentation and read through some posts on this forum.
The standard copy-and-paste reply from Dropbox support is from this article: https://help.dropbox.com/installs/macos-support-for-expected-changes
"Storing your Dropbox folder on an external drive is no longer supported by macOS."
The issue with this and all the replies I've seen is that there is no explanation or understanding as to how much of a disadvantage this to some of us long-time Dropbox users. I want to understand what has happened and what the workarounds (if any) are.
I'm currently on Mac OS 12.5 (Monterery).
I am concerned about upgrading because it looks like I will no longer be able to store my Dropbox folder on my external drive.
On my 1Tb MacBook Pro, this isn't an issue.
But on my 512Gb Mac Mini, this is a significant issue.
Like many people, I work with very large video files, and I quickly run out of space on my Mac's hard drive. And it's not an option to store many of these files online, because of the time it takes to download (even on a fast connection).
From what I gather, Apple are requiring 3rd party tools to work with their iCloud API and to store all files within the user library.
But, is it not possible to move my Apple user library to an external library? Even on Ventura? If so, wouldn't that mean I CAN use Dropbox on an external drive?
On my Mac Mini, I don't really want any of my documents on my main drive, because there just isn't enough room.
Can someone explain what is happening here, and if there are any workarounds? Specifically, can I move my user library to an external drive and so use Dropbox there?
Thanks!
- Mark
Super User II
Hi iagdotme
So the simplest answer here is 'no'. Due to the changes Apple have made they are no longer allowing this. However, disclaimer here in that is the official supported line. There may be ways of doing so which involve tweaking / changing things BUT these wouldnt be supported by either Apple or Dropbox should something go wrong. At this moment I dont actually know of any, but, I imagine over time some will appear.
Thanks, Mark.
Would it be cynical of me to think this could be Apple wanting us to upgrade our Macs to ones with HUGE hard drives? 😉
I can't seem to find any explanations of what Apple are doing and that they are definitely no longer supporting external drives. I can't be the only person who needs to do this.
I don't understand. Won't we be able to store the files on dropbox online only and pull them down when needed? I actually JUST set up an iMovie library on Dropbox this morning. It took a ridiculous amount of time to upload an 800mb MB! film - it was a 30 second video for Pete Sake. I'm in the process of upgrading to a macmini2 with only 512gb on it. I have a Mac mini 1TB that currently has 850 gb used. I need to already move everything and planned on working from a 2TB External.
So, bottom line, can I just drag everything out of drop box - right now! - and stick in on the 2TB external, then either do Google or some other cloud service and be done with dropbox?
What happens if my boot drive IS an external drive (which mine is)?? Is it possible that the Dropbox folder needs to be on the boot drive, wherever that happens to be?? If this is true, it wouldn't help teams whose workflow is based on shared network storage, but it MIGHT help those like me with simpler set-ups. Does anyone know if this is so???
This change will make Dropbox unusable for me.
My system SSD has 128 GB and it's absolutely sufficient for me, because I do not store any data on it and I won't in the future, because I can't, because it's not large enough. I absolutely require the functionality to store the Dropbox folder where I want.
What even is this change?! I realize I should complain to Apple about this, and I will, but I'm also surprised how Dropbox doesn't have a louder voice regarding this whole issue...
>That's right, it will try to move the content on your internal drive until it has no space and gives you an error.
This part is actually infuriating and not Apple's fault. Luckily this hasn't happened on my system yet and I'll remove Dropbox completely before it does. Why isn't this being handled more professionally?This is an absolute disaster for my business too! Multiple Macs in different locations with externals SSD sharing several TB of Dropbox to sync Video & Audio apps. What are they thinking??? It's currently running fine so can they not find a solution? If this gos ahead I'll be getting a refund & trying to figure out an alternative.
This is also extremely worrisome to our future as well. We've spent years revolving around this feature and it is absolutely business critical. Without this feature of moving the sync folder anywhere, our entire sector of business will come to a complete stop. We use this feature so much because of the advantages it brings to processing, rendering and handling files locally that we can not do efficiently in the cloud. As of right now, we're being advised to not update the OS and thus the app will not get updated and remove the feature. However when we bring a new computer onboard, we will be forced to use the new OS that the machine ships with and will not be able to run a legacy OS and will be forced into the app version without the folder relocation. This is very worrisome. Without this particular feature, if we're forced to change our workflow, we're probably going to have to change our platform altogether. It would be a tough sell to attempt to use and pay for two different systems. We really don't want to leave Dropbox! You've been so great to us for so long!
Help us Dropbox Team, You're our only hope!
KzDbxCommunity Manager
Hello everyone. Thank you for your feedback.
We understand that this is a significant pain point for you and your teams that rely on having Dropbox sync on external drives.
Currently, the File Provider API only supports your Dropbox folder in ~/Library/CloudStorage. We are actively working on a solution to support external drives on the updated Dropbox for macOS. While we work to implement a solution, customers who have their Dropbox folder on an external drive will not be migrated to the updated macOS experience. External drive support will continue to work as usual on your current experience.
We will keep you updated when we have more details to share."While we work to implement a solution, customers who have their Dropbox folder on an external drive will not be migrated to the updated macOS experience. External drive support will continue to work as usual on your current experience."
Hallelujah! Thank you, Dropbox, for listening.
May I suggest that in the future, for those of us who contacted Customer Support directly, you give us mere mortals confirmation that our feedback is being taken seriously and being passed upwards?
I made an attempt at that and was told outright by the service person that they would not escalate the issue. After asking to escalate the issue 6 times, I was told:
"Charlotte: Unfortunately, I cannot escalate your case, I'm really sorry that I can't help more with this"
As a Business Advanced customer, that's completely unacceptable.
You were ->this<- close to losing us as a customer; in fact we were testing out OneDrive today to see if it'd fit our needs.
This is BS. Google has figured out a way around it for google drive. This is a COMPLETE SHOW STOPPER and this is TERRIBLE and unusable. How many of us have large dropbox libraries on our desktop computers AND host all our files on external volumes?
Instructions on how to fix google drive, for reference:
"Disconnect their account from Drive for Desktop.- Quit Google Drive for Desktop.- Run this command in a terminal touch ~/Library/Application\ Support/Google/DriveFS/fp_left_beta- Start Google Drive and log back in.
https://support.google.com/drive/thread/159983654?hl=en&msgid=162498347
This way the user will have a second folder that is not controlled by FileProvider and can be safely used."
MAKE THIS HAPPEN.This is a terrible move.
If dropbox forces us not to use external drive anymore, I'll simply unsubscribe to dropbox, as will thousands of users.
- This is nuts. Please Dropbox devs, sort this out ASAP. Our entire workflow relies on external drives for multiple editing stations.
It doesn’t make any sense to have digital video assets playing from an operating drive.
If not sorted, we will be moving to OneDrive (which I’ve now discovered is considerably less cost per year). This is not a disaster. It's a clusterf##k. An absolute f##k you to your customers. So I'll be looking at other solutions, like everyone else.
Mister Admin THIS IS NOT SOLVED.
Please UNSOLVE this thread!
