You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.
Forum Discussion
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://help.dropbox.com/installs/macos-support-for-expected-changes
Just confirmed this with DB support (see below). Gutted - been with Dropbox for years and our entire video team flow is based around it 😕
>Hi there, I read today that you are scrapping the ability to store the Dropbox folder on external disks, on OSX. I'd like to ask more about this please.
> Hello Jon, and thank you for contacting Dropbox Support. My name is Joseph, and I will be more than happy to look into your request, right away.
That is correct Jon, as part of the Dropbox for macOS update, the Dropbox folder must be located in ~/Library/CloudStorage.
>This is a showstopper for us, and will mean we have to move to another service. We have a large distributed team using DB for video work, no way it'll fit within internal drives.
Is there a workaround?
> I totally understand and I apologize for the inconvenience. Unfortunately, there is no workaround on this as changing the location of your Dropbox folder is no longer supported by macOS.
>This change doesn't seem to have hit us yet - we're running a variety of machines inc Ventura
What will trigger its enforcement? Can we stay on an earlier OS or Dropbox version?
>The updates happening automatically every time the Dropbox app is restarting, for example if your device never restarts it should maintain the older version but we can't guarantee full functionality on older versions of the application.
>So what will happen - if we have a Dropbox folder on an 8TB drive and a tiny internal drive - will it try to clone stuff across and eat up the space? What's the mechanism?
>That's right, it will try to move the content on your internal drive until it has no space and gives you an error.
>Is Smartsync still supported? I.e. will it move stuff to being online only if it won't fit?
>It is, however it is now known as online-only.
If I'm reading this correctly, it looks like there may be hope on the horizon. According to the Apple File Provider developer docs, it looks as though Apple has added some functionality for external drives: link.
"Cache files on external disks. Confirm whether a volume is eligible for storing a domain using checkDomainsCanBeStoredOnVolume(at:), and create a domain on that volume using the new init(displayName:userInfo:volumeURL:) initializer. Store data about the current sync state using stateDirectoryURL(), and determine whether to connect to a domain created on another device using shouldConnectExternalDomain(completionHandler:)."I upgraded to a base model MacBook Air with a 256 GB drive. I just use it for DJing and surfing the web. I did a Time Machine backup and restore. DB moved my folder to an encrypted folder that sits in the Library. The transition was a nightmare as I have 2+TB on DB. It clogged my Mac for a few days as I worked through getting it to online only.
My iMac Pro still functions as normal, though, with DB sitting on the internal drive. It's when you make a change that you'll have problems. DB support was very helpful and they escalated my ticket. Ultimately, it just took a long time to for DB to sort itself out and my laptop is fine.
So this is what's happening to me, one of your first users ever. I found out about this Macos change because my system almost ran out of space. I was running Dropbox in 2 locations: 1. my external drive, and somehow a new instance on /Library/CloudStorage that I don't recall ever installing. Now DB won't connect and log in. This was a cluster f**k of a way to tell customers about this massive change.
You can't mean this, can you? We pay for this! I want to be able to decide where I want to store my files, right?
Apple or you don't have to interfere with that, do you?
Internal drives are far too small, so the option to synchronize your Dropbox on an external drive should be back very soon.
I'm really outraged by this... this really doesn't make any sense!Nederkoorn I’m not sure to whom you are directing this complaint but I hope it’s not me, because we are in complete agreement.
ArthurPix I guess it's towards dropbox right? I also agree to the criticism (against them) – this situation is a disaster. And the lack of communication is beyond unprofessional. And, there seems to be conflicting info depending on who you speak to. I personally have heard from the DB support that they ar NOT working on a solution, whereas other support staff members have stated that they indeed ARE working on it. Who knows? It really sucks.
Interesting!
In spite of this thread, I renewed for another year back in November under the premise that Dropbox said they would not FORCE the update and you had to opt in. I'm on Ventura on a Mac Studio that restarts fresh every day, and am still fine with my 2TB living on an external drive. My 2015 iMac (back on Mojave) is also still doing fine with Dropbox on an external.
It's not in spite of this thread.. it's because of this thread, at least in part. At the beginning of this thread, Dropbox said there were NO other alternatives and dropbox would ONLY be supported on the system drive. Because of this thread (at least in part), Dropbox backpedaled a little and now says you can still use the previous version of Dropbox and store on external drives. So... thank those of us who have whined about this from the start. :).
Just weighing in on the recent comments on this thread. No one here should be arguing over whether a person should purchase enough internal storage to satisfy the new cloud storage mechanism. That is a personal choice, based on budget and need, and is not always realistic. I personally have 7TB of data and much more on the way. Macbook Pros max out at 8TB, and at an additional cost of $2,200. If that is a good plan for YOU, then so be it. But it won't be for most.
I'm going to reiterate my long term solution which has been working flawlessly, in case it helps others here. I purchased a 5-drive Synology DS1522+ NAS and loaded it with enough WD Red drives to give me 20+TB of data. One of the software packages that is included, Synology Drive, has local/cloud sync features just like Dropbox, so I can locally sync whatever project I'm working on at the moment for fast speeds, then switch those files back to cloud only when the project is complete to free that space up again. It works just as well as Dropbox. However, I decided to upgrade my network components to 10Gbe so that I can work directly off the NAS, and this gave me around 700MB/s write, 900MB/s read speeds, which is plenty for my personal needs. This entire setup cost me around $1,500, far less than Apple charges for around 1/3 the local storage on a new Macbook Pro. I ALSO pay around $10/month to back up all of my files to iDrive E2 cloud storage, which the Synology NAS does automatically every night, eliminating most risk from using local storage.
- I am devastated with this new functionality. It just don’t work for me.
I’m in the video and graphic design market and I can’t work like this.
Back to files offline and wetransfer.com
I guess. I won’t pay for this new Dropbox.- Then don’t migrate to File Provider, the old API still syncs to external volumes, perfectly on the latest Mac OS
- How? This app updated on my Mac. Any guide to do this?
Greetings,
I'm wondering if you have found any working alternative? Has Dropbox fixed anything or have you found another service?
Thanks for any suggestions!
I'd like to get back to work.
JoshI was just about to upgrade but because I had this same thing happen to me with OneDrive, I thought to check first. This info should be very visible when you go to sign up. Something like, "On a Mac? Read this first!" Profits and all that though...what can you do?
I use Sync cloud because I can sync to an external drive still. Not sure what they're doing different but there you go.
Edit: I may have to retract. What is this I just found? I was able to choose an external drive.
Hi, where is this option please, and could you confirm if this worked?
I am needing to move 280GB from my Mac, onto an external drive.
Thanks
For me it's this: Preferences>sync tab>dropbox folder location>click the dropdown and select 'other'>then find the drive you want.
I'm on dropbox app v181.3.5613 on Ventura.
Apple File Provider is a MAJOR DESASTER - i quit my Dropbox Account
Title says it all
Dropbox Folder needs to sit on the system drive
Such an ignorance, i'm totally floored.
>> "We're always looking for ways to improve Dropbox. We regularly release new versions of our products with better performance, additional features, and security enhancements." <<
My suggestion:Start by not deteriorating your products. Apple File Provider is an unbeatable disaster.We have massive computing power at our disposal, and all we users do with it is process Word and Excel online. Is this your vision of our work?
Are your imaginations so limited that you can't fathom how a user deals with 2TB of synced data? Do you have any idea how an audio program accesses data? A photo program? A video program?
Do you really think we can or even want to handle online-only data? I just canceled my 2TB Dropbox account because you've made it unusable. You've crippled your own product and failed to deliver on your performance promise.
According to the new Apple File Provider guidelines, I would have to equip my 4 Macs with 3TB system HDs to accommodate the Dropbox Folder, the system, and swap RAM. This fails because system HDs cannot be replaced afterward and because Mac Mini and MacBook Air are not even offered with 3TB HDs.
I am shocked by this ignorance.
I keep getting notifications about the new "better app" that uses the new Apple API. And then if I click on the info line below I get a huge list of all the things that will no longer be possible when I upgrade, as well as all the known limitations!
https://help.dropbox.com/installs/macos-support-for-expected-changes
Just a wild idea - maybe also tell users what the benefits will be with some actual examples other than it "integrating more deeply with the OS" 😜? Otherwise literally the only benefit listed is "fix issues related to opening online-only files in third-party applications".
Thanks
