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Forum Discussion

imagemakerpr's avatar
imagemakerpr
New member | Level 2
7 years ago

Can Dropbox be used as a backup with Time Machine?

Can dropbox be used for backup with time machine. How do I set it up?
FAQ
Sync
  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    7 years ago
    Its STRONGLY recommended that you dont - there are lots of threads on here about where it doesnt play well.

    Its also worth remembering, and pointing out, that Dropbox isnt a back up tool. Its a syncing one and so you really shouldnt rely upon it as a back up one.
Mark's avatar
Mark
Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
Its STRONGLY recommended that you dont - there are lots of threads on here about where it doesnt play well.

Its also worth remembering, and pointing out, that Dropbox isnt a back up tool. Its a syncing one and so you really shouldnt rely upon it as a back up one.
aknyc's avatar
aknyc
Helpful | Level 6
3 years ago

So as you say, dropbox is not a substitute for backing up.  And you also say, do not use Time Machine with Dropbox.  So, then, is one stuck without a backup solution if one uses Mac OS?

  • ngb's avatar
    ngb
    Explorer | Level 4
    3 years ago
    Until a solution is found. Dropbox is an excellent backup system. Turn off time machine and use Dropbox for backups. That is what I do. It’s saved me plenty of times.

    macOS will also backup to iCloud. So time machine isn’t really needed anyway. But Dropbox will provide rollback functionality as well.
    • aknyc's avatar
      aknyc
      Helpful | Level 6
      3 years ago

      I don't like being solely reliant on the cloud, whether dropbox or icloud drive.  So TM is a must (i backup to multiple physical drives - 3 at last count!)

       

      So looks like I will have no choice but to ditch DropBox, unless Dropbox confirms that OSX Monterey Time Machine and Dropbox are "compatible".

      • hologroove's avatar
        hologroove
        Explorer | Level 3
        12 months ago

        Are there any updates on this? Could this work? (i.e. saving the Dropbox folder to a Time Machine backup in macOS Monterey)

        I understad that restoring from that backup to a machine that has Dropbox running could be problematic, so I can live with a limitation that if I want to restore from the Dropbox folder in Time Machine backup then I have to do it while Dropbox is not running and syncing on that machine.

        Could this work if I exlcude these from the Time Machine backup and never attempt restoreing the whole Dropbox folder but only individual files/folders?
        ~/.dropbox/
        ~/.dropbox_bi
        ~/Dropbox/.dropbox
        ~/Dropbox/.dropbox.cache

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