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Jon C.10's avatar
Jon C.10
Collaborator | Level 8
2 years ago

Disaster: Dropbox removing external disk support for Mac users :(

In case anyone's unaware... if you're a Mac user storing your Dropbox on an external drive, you'll shortly lose that ability.   https://talk.tidbits.com/t/dropbox-drops-support-for-storing-files-on...
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  • BenDBX's avatar
    BenDBX
    4 months ago
    Hi Everybody,
     
    We’re excited to share that external drive support for Dropbox for macOS on File Provider is now available for testing as a beta feature. This is available to some users today and will be available to additional users on a rolling basis. In order to be eligible to test this feature, please follow the instructions in this Help Center article. 
     
    Keep in mind that participation in beta programs is subject to the certain terms and conditions. There are certain additional participation requirements:
    • This beta is only available to US-based users
    • You must be on macOS 15 beta
    • You must have an external drive that is APFS formatted and encrypted
     
    Please let me know if you have any further questions!
iagdotme's avatar
iagdotme
Helpful | Level 5

I'm very confused about what is happening with Dropbox. I've read the help documentation and read through some posts on this forum.

 

The standard copy-and-paste reply from Dropbox support is from this article: https://help.dropbox.com/installs/macos-support-for-expected-changes

"Storing your Dropbox folder on an external drive is no longer supported by macOS."

 

The issue with this and all the replies I've seen is that there is no explanation or understanding as to how much of a disadvantage this to some of us long-time Dropbox users. I want to understand what has happened and what the workarounds (if any) are.

 

I'm currently on Mac OS 12.5 (Monterery).

I am concerned about upgrading because it looks like I will no longer be able to store my Dropbox folder on my external drive.

On my 1Tb MacBook Pro, this isn't an issue.

But on my 512Gb Mac Mini, this is a significant issue. 

Like many people, I work with very large video files, and I quickly run out of space on my Mac's hard drive. And it's not an option to store many of these files online, because of the time it takes to download (even on a fast connection).

 

From what I gather, Apple are requiring 3rd party tools to work with their iCloud API and to store all files within the user library.

But, is it not possible to move my Apple user library to an external library? Even on Ventura? If so, wouldn't that mean I CAN use Dropbox on an external drive?

On my Mac Mini, I don't really want any of my documents on my main drive, because there just isn't enough room.

 

Can someone explain what is happening here, and if there are any workarounds? Specifically, can I move my user library to an external drive and so use Dropbox there?

Thanks!

WriterGuy-123's avatar
WriterGuy-123
Helpful | Level 5
2 years ago

What happens if my boot drive IS an external drive (which mine is)?? Is it possible that the Dropbox folder needs to be on the boot drive, wherever that happens to be?? If this is true, it wouldn't help teams whose workflow is based on shared network storage, but it MIGHT help those like me with simpler set-ups. Does anyone know if this is so???

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