Learn how to make the most out of the Dropbox Community here 💙.
Forum Discussion
Download All Files to Close Out Dropbox Account
I'm trying to download every file on my dropbox to an external hard drive so that I can access the files after I delete my dropbox account, but there is nowhere online that explains how to do this. I...
@daphne
Thank you for getting back to me! Yes, i've started the process through the app, but according to the article below it's warning against using an external drive, which is my only option since my company is closing and all filves need to be consolidated to a drive.
The app is saying it will take 2+ days to transfer and I'm sure something will interupt this in that long of a time period. Is this the only way?
It also looks as though the folder in the drive will still be linked to dropbox, and I can't have that since I have to delete my dropbox account at the end of this
https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/desktop/move-dropbox-folder
if it lets you selct the external drive as a move to location just do it, and make sure no one pulls the cable out.
if your windows and it doesnt, you can mount the external as a subfolder of C: using "Computer management" and Disk management in it.
Or from a administrator level dos shell use a the dos command MKLINK /D C:\NOT_ON_C G:\
assuming the external is on G:
Then move the folder to C:\NOT_ON_C which then conencts to the G:\ and you end up with G:\Dropbox
Once its synced just unlink the account in the app and your done.
-----------
if thats not working or to hard to follow, then leave the dropbox folder on C:\ where ever it is, and every 8 hours, cut and paste all the files to a external drive, repeat as more come in.
- Daphne
Dropbox Staff
Thanks for the update ccramer!
The warning is due to external drives not being an officially supported location for the desktop app installation. You just need to ensure the drive stays connected during sync.
I'd suggest checking that your bandwidth settings aren't limited to speed up the process as much as possible.
There are others around the Community that have mentioned their app showing 2+ days for syncing which isn't an accurate reflection.
Fixing permissions should resolve the issue if you'd like to try that, but if you see the number of files progressing in the sync status then you can just leave the app to sync and check the number of files left.
Once the app is "up to date", please check everything is synced locally :white_check_mark: before unlinking your account from the desktop app.
If you have any other questions, just give us a shout here!
