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Forum Discussion
External drive auto backup
Can anyone please advise how I set up external drive auto backup? I originally saw the box pop up, asking if I wanted Dropbox to automatically back up the drive, but I clicked No. Now I've changed my mind, how do I set this up? Thanks in advance.
- If any other users are experiencing a similar issue, we recommend following this solution:Can you please first eject the external drive, then sign out of the Dropbox application, sign back in, insert the external drive, then check to see if you receive that original prompt? This should help resolve the issue.Instructions on how to sign out of the Dropbox desktop application can be found below:
- Open your Dropbox desktop app preferences.
- Click the Account tab.
- Click Sign out.
As I understand it, DropBox can only synchronise files in the main Windows libraries (My Documents, etc), and the DropBox folder must be located on the same drive as these libraries, (usually the System Drive).
I run a Windows 2016 file server which has separate physical drives for my data. I really wouldn't want to keep everything on the System Drive even if that was physically possible. This way if the System drive fails I can swap it in a few minutes without losing a single file. However, I cannot get DropBox to synchronise the contents of my secondary drives, (D:\ F:\ S:\ and so forth).
I have created new libraries pointing at secondary and network drives, but DropBox cannot see these and will not synchronise them. I am told by support that if I move my DropBox folder to (say) D:\ drive I can then synchronise with that drive, but that rather defeats the object, and will double the space taken on that drive.
What we need is a utility to synchronise independent drives with DropBox wherever the DropBox folder is located on the machine, and not relying on Windows Libraries.
- Walter
Dropbox Staff
Hey Helen J.3 - thanks for posting on our Community!
You should be able to adjust your external drive backup settings through the app's preferences, under the Backups tab.
Let me know if you have anything else to ask!Thankss for your reply. I have tried this, but the only folders showing in Backups > Set up > are... Desktop / Documents / Downloads / Music / Pictures / Movies. My external drive isn't showing. Any further advice, please?
Thanks, Helen
I do not want Dropbox to download automatically the content of any external drive when it is plugged in. I cannot get further than asking it to be done "later".
So, following the advice here, I click on my avatar, then Preferences, then Safeguards, but do not find any tab for Configuration, so cannot go further. I have a personal account, of which I am the administrator. What can I do ?
To summarise : I use Dropbox to store my current files, and regularly download to my hard disc as work finishes on a particular job. I do not want to downloading from drives that themselves contain my backups (I keep three full external backups).
This is my first contact with the community, and would be pleased have some hints on what to do.
- Nancy
Hi DenisM5, and welcome aboard the Community!
if l get this right, you don’t wish to back up your external drives to Dropbox, correct?
If external drive backup has already been enabled on your device, could you take a look at this link, and let me know if it helps?
In general, your external drive backup doesn’t take up space from your main hard drive, since these files can only be found on www.dropbox.com, besides your external drive.
Let me know, if you’ve got any questions though.
Hello! Has anyone found a solution to this problem? I've tried all the posted solutions but never-ever get the prompt to sync my external drive. I'm on macOS Big Sur 11.6.5.
