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Forum Discussion
Feature Request: ExFAT Compatibility when using external drives
I (as well as many others I'm sure) use Dropbox to sync with offsite professionals while needing to use multiple workstations. Rather than keeping local copies on each of these computers (as they aren't private workstations and often are cleared), I keep my Dropbox on an External drive.
I've now been presented with a need to utilize this system over multiple OS, and have just found out that Dropbox cannot be linked to an ExFAT external drive.
The 4GB file limit has been removed with FAT32, and many professionals have to utilize multiple OS environments to do their job. This is a problem with a solution that's far overdue.
Please let me continue to use Dropbox to connect with other professionals regardless of the OS I am working on in that moment.
- Jay
Dropbox Staff
Hi SSpratlin, thanks for messaging the Community.
Just for clarification, are you using the same Dropbox folder on the external on multiple machines with the desktop app running and syncing?
Or, are you syncing to just one machine, and then using the external drive in another location, without any syncing features?
This will help me to assist further!
I'd like to have one dropbox folder on the External Drive, and have the desktop app syncing on multiple workstations. This drive needs to be ExFAT to work on multiple operating systems.
Workflow goes something like this
- Work on Computer 1 (MacOS) Save changes to Dropbox Folder
- Dropbox syncs to cloud to reflect changes
- Editor 2 makes changes which are reflected in the cloud folder
- Connect Drive to Computer 2 (Windows) and have Dropbox sync the folder to reflect changes
- Work on Computer 2, and have Dropbox Desktop app sync to the cloud.
This saves me storage space, and having to re-download any/all necessary assets stored on Dropbox for each workstation I need to use.
- Jay
Thanks for the info. This wouldn't work, regardless of the file system used, since the Dropbox folder can only be linked to a single Dropbox desktop application on one machine.
In short, you wouldn't be able to use the same Dropbox folder on multiple machines and multiple desktop apps.
I already do this on MacOS, so I'm not sure what you're getting at. I have an external drive that holds my Dropbox Sync folder that I connect to both my laptop and desktop and link to the desktop apps of them both.
The current workflow looks like this:
- An external hard drive formatted for Mac OS Extended (Journaled) with the Dropbox Folder on it.
- The Dropbox Desktop App installed on both my Desktop Computer and Laptop.
- Work on my laptop, dropbox Syncs between the folder on the external drive and the cloud. Changes made remotely reflect when the sync happens.
- Save the changes on my laptop to the Dropbox folder on the External Drive. Let the Dropbox Folder on that drive sync to the cloud.
- Disconnect drive.
- Connect drive to Desktop computer.
- Open project files on Dropbox Folder on External Drive on Desktop Computer. Work on project, save changes.
- Dropbox Folder on External Drive syncs to the cloud.
I don't have the time/space to have local copies on each of the machines, so I keep my Dropbox Sync folder on an external drive. This works on any Mac device with the Dropbox Desktop App.
I would like this to work on an external drive formatted for ExFAT.
