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Forum Discussion
Turning on dropbox backup but folder name is weird
I had tested the Dropbox Backup feature in the past so I know that when turned on my Computers should be added as My Mac (Unique Mac Name). I decided to turn it back on again when setting up two new Macs that I have but the backup now creates the folders as just Mac, Mac (2), Mac (3)
I've gone through the steps of unlinking Dropbox from each computer. Checking their names in System Preferences and also in the Security tab of my Dropbox account. The computer names are correct in Dropbox but the backup feature is still creating the folders as just Mac
OK, they are finally rolling up a Beta update for Dropbox Backup that will let you rename and I was able to do it! You can do go through Dropbox Backup in the app, disable the backups on all the computers there, and then restart them. Then, re-enable backups and it should move you over to beta so you can now rename things!
The device names registered in my dropbox are
- Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Hey tjanderson, thanks for reaching out and sorry for the delay!
It seems that this change was implemented to simplify things with the computer backup folders.
The folder of the first computer that is connected to the account is named 'Mac' and the next one 'Mac (2)', etc.
This cannot be changed at the moment and the folders cannot be renamed.
Let me know if you have any questions!Hi Hannah,
Thanks for the confirmation this is expected behavior now.
Please pass along the feedback though I think this is a bad design choice and really doesn't simplify anything.
In my use case I have three different macs all with backup enabled. Which one is Mac or Mac (2) or Mac (3)?
If I'm on my iPad and know that I need to get a document that was saved in my iMacs Document folder - which Mac folder would I go to?
The previous setup where it would be Mac (Device Name) made these scenarios easy but giving a generic name makes it somewhat unusable unless you only had a single Mac or maybe a single Mac and single PC.
At this point I will turn off the backup features from Dropbox as I can't use this as is.
Hi,
I just started backing up a new computer. The previous two show up in Dropbox as My PC (PC Name) but this third one shows up as PC (3).
The PC name is set just fine afaict.
Any ideas?
Thanks!
- Rich
Super User II
simmsg wrote:
I just started backing up a new computer. The previous two show up in Dropbox as My PC (PC Name) but this third one shows up as PC (3).
That is how the folders are now named. The first one will be named PC. Subsequent folders will be named PC (2), PC (3), etc. It was a change that was implemented to simplify the computer backup folders.
Thanks for responding. What a shame. The previous naming convention was at least understandable. And as others have pointed out, who is going to remember which is PC 1 vs PC 2 vs PC 3?
After I reinstalled my pc, it create a new folder named PC2, and the previous folder PC I can't change its name, nor I can delete it. Does anyone have a solution?
Hi, I am trying this new Dropbox Backup feature, and I'm noticing that a directory was created with a name I didn't choose, namely:
My Mac (123.dhcp.myisp.com).
I would like this to be something like My Mac (laptop), instead of the default name.
I noticed that my Desktop folder was moved in there and the actual Desktop folder is now a symlink pointing to Desktop in My Mac (123.dhcp.mysip.com), and while I could rename it and fix the symlink, it seems like this may cause issues with Dropbox looking at the wrong places in the future, e.g. when adding/removing backup folders at the very least.
Is there a way to rename this without causing issues?
Thanks.
I have a few question about Dropbox.
First, how can I rename "My Mac (xy)" featured Folders, because I had two Mac folders, a MacBook Pro, and an Air, so I want to change it to: My Mac ( Pro) and My Mac ( Air). (because its looks like cool)
Thanks for help!
Ugh, same problem. its pegging my main PC as PC2 after a format/upgrade to windows 11. unlinked everythign from my dropbox account, restarted and tried to set it up again.
guess i wont be using that.
can win with cloud services. tried putting libraries in onedrive but stuff just gets perpetually stuck on sync so figured id shift gears and come to dropbox. nope, dropbox has to sequester things off in their own "PC" folder and on top of that they have to append numbers and you cant change whatever it decides.
good times. local backups it is.so is a plan in the works to address this behavior? what happens when i format again? PC3? then i build a new pc to replace this one, PC4?
Its kind of important to address this. some people have a whole slew of scripts that run based on paths and locations and once youre entrenched having crazy names appended to the same environment that are unchangeable and unremovable is absurd at best. I was able to swallow the murder of symlinks but this one is preventing me from using it altogether.
- HannahHey SNANA51832, thanks for letting us know about this.
The 'PC' and 'PC(2)' folders mean that you have enabled the computer backup feature on two connected PCs, but the backup folder name cannot be changed.
Can you clarify what you mean when you say that you reinstalled your PC?
Did you update your operating system or did you just reinstall Dropbox on it?
And, are you seeing two backup folders for the same PC or do these two folders contain different desktop files?
Keep me posted.I reinstalled my operating system a few days ago and these two folders are not visible to me and show up on the new one as the PC folder. You can see the picture here.https://imgur.com/gallery/mGhrwen
But in dropbox, it will show this.https://imgur.com/5XcXvfi
After I reinstalled my operating system, I move all my desktop files from PC to PC2.So the PC folder is empty.And I can't delete it nor can i rename the PC2 folder.
And the dropbox desktop software will contain a PC2 folder.https://imgur.com/ka8UPxN
Look forward to your favourable reply.
