How to restore backed up files to computer after Windows reinstall?

[Janette1]

Hello,

My laptop crashed yesterday and I ended up having to reinstall Windows 11.  The laptop is up and running again and I am in the painful stage of having to reload all files and programs.  First step was I tried to restore my backed up Dropbox files to my laptop.  As far as I can tell, all the restore has done is create a DUPLICATE of my backup ONLINE.

So it’s essentially doubled my storage use (for the same backup files) and I don’t have any of the files on my laptop.  See screenshot below.

Am I to understand that I will need to MANUALLY download all these files to my laptop?  I tried to do that and have already run into the “Attempted to zip too many files” error and have figured out that if I need to download them manually, I will have to do so in pieces.   I have used Carbonite as a backup program previously and I did not have to manually restore files to a new computer.  I had assumed Dropbox Backup Restore was an automatic process as well.  Am I missing something?

Thanks,

Janette

[Walter]

Hey @Janette1 - thanks for posting on our Community and happy New Year!

You're right that you'd need to download those files manually from the Backups page to restore from your previous backup.

I hope this helps!