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Can we have more folder options like custom folders or sub-folders to add to Computer Backup?
Right now, the automated backup option in Dropbox allows me to sync my Documents, Desktop and Downloads folders. By far the biggest - and most important - folder on my computer is the Music folder though. I can imagine for other people it's Pictures. Could we have a way to automatically backup those folders too?
To be really ambitious: would we be able to clone our computer on Dropbox? I used to have an Apple Time Machine that allowed you to do just that. If your computer broke down or was stolen, you could buy a new one, let it download the clone, including not just your documents but your applications and presets too, and you'd be good to go!
Please let Dropbox be the new Time Machine.
Dropbox keeps improving, which is good. Now it is able to backup parts of my computer outside of the Dropbox folder: the standard Windows folders such as Documents.
But I mostly use my own folder structure, not Documents, for my important work. So I need Dropbox to work outside of the special Dropbox folder and the special Windows folders. For example, I would like to add C:\MyProjects\ThisProject to automatic coverage by Dropbox, whether the Dropbox company wants to call this "backup" or not.
The Dropbox company is starting to waver from its insistence on using a Dropbox folder. First, it was the Selective Sync feature. Now it is the Backup feature. Why does the Dropbox company change so slowly, and in such a complicated way?
Windows NTFS Journalling works with any folder on a computer.
Some of us prefer to add the folders we wish to be backed up by Dropbox, instead of using a special Dropbox folder or one of the special Windows folders.
ADDED:
A good manual workaround is to find your SendTo folder (on my computer it is at C:\Users\USER\AppData\Roaming\Microsoft\Windows\SendTo), and add to it a Shortcut to C:\Dropbox\backup . Also, create the "dropbox\backup" folder.
Now, every time you would like to manually backup a file or folder, go to File Explorer, right-click the file, and choose your backup shortcut. That will copy it to backup in Dropbox.
If you want automatic backup, without any action on your part, you have to vote up suggestions like this one, because the Dropbox company cannot figure out for itself which features are most useful to its customers.
That is a completely different issue, and a good one. It deserves its own thread, so ideally you would delete your posting here and post again in its own thread.
I'd like to add that it's not useful to HAVE to have Dropbox on the same drive as the folders you want to back up. I store the vast majority of my files on a secondary hard drive (my faster, smaller SSD has my OS, and my larger HD is used for storage). Since Dropbox tells me I need to keep my Dropbox folder on the same drive as my OS, this means I can't back up the stuff that needs to be backed up.
Under the "Backup" option in the dropbox app for Windows, currently theres an option to back up certain folders, such as Desktop, Music ... and so on.
I want an option to add custom folder to back up.
Reason. My setup is
At D:\Data I have my personal folders and files
At D:\Dropbox\Data I have my personal folders and files, that is beeing sync. to my Dropbox online
I want this option under 'Backup' to be "Add custom folders" so I can backup D:\Data to D:\Dropbox\Data
To the dropbox team:
Please reconsider the "Not for right now" Status. If you only knew how helpful it would be to have an option for custom folders to automatic backup. I'm thinking of external disk drives with important folders, like Mikeos2001 in the last comment.
It would make the automatic back-up feature on your Dropbox Desktop app (I'm using mac) more convenient if you could provide more options for browsing folders.
Further explanation:
As an example of how difficult it is without browsing, I've been trying to back up an external drive, but because it contains my Dropbox folder, it's impossible to "introduce" this drive to the Dropbox.app using the method of ejecting and reconnecting it (the Dropbox.app can't be running at the same time).
Needless to say, I intended to select the other folders on the drive (not the Dropbox folder itself) for backing up.
I tried to migrate the Dropbox folder to another location (another drive) and could start the backup, but lost sight of what's happening in the Dropbox cloud and now my Dropbox.app doesn't show any response when I disconnect and reconnect.
It would solve everything if, in the Preferences - Backups window of Dropbox.app, the "Set up" button would offer browsing options.
I've voted for this.
I think that not having the ability to add custom folders to the backup feature is limiting. I have multiple disk drives with important files spread across them. The only way I can back these up is by doing my own local backup of these locations to a single drive, and it's that drive/subfolders that I have to then backup again to a remote location. I do this with the general sync functionality, but it goes against the way my mind works to do it this way - feels like a messy workaround, and takes up twice the amount of local storage 😄
The option to select any folder we would like to add to the backup feature is a must, in order to make the Backup feature a real deal.
# Update
Well, I have something more to add.
I just realised how the dropbox backup feature works - It moves the selected folder inside the DropBox folder.
That's why when I was testing the feature for some folders, there were conflicts with other services like Google's Backup and Sync and iCloud Drive.
I wouldn't want to have my local folders all moved under the DropBox folder. I would prefer to be able to select specific folders and those would be simply backed up on Dropbox cloud. I would also like to be able to use the Backup feature alongside with my other backup services, so I can have my files backed-up on more than 1 locations.
So, the option to add more folders for the backup as it's currently implemented it's not what I want.
Now Dropbox has the feature Computer backup to back up certain key folders on your computer, such as “Desktop”, “Documents”, and “Downloads”, to Dropbox.
Great, now you cna not only move the files to the cloud but also keep the folder updated!
However I want to backup a folder that is not in the "key folder list" of DropBox. In fact, it is on a different harddisk in my PC.
Can you please add that feature?I would also really like the ability to automatically backup any arbitrary folder. I do not personally use the Documents folder since putting my actual documents where a bunch of apps create various folders for their own purposes would disturb my sense of organization. I also have zero intention of working primarily from the Dropbox folder. I know where my important documents are and I just want to back up those locations.
Even if "letting us choose which folders to back up" feature takes a little longer, you should quickly add in the option to protect the "Pictures" folder. That's the #1 folder that people cry about losing!
I don't want to backup my whole harddrive. right now I can only back-up large sections of my harddrive. in apple that is desktop, documents, music, downloads. i only want to back up subfolders of those folders.
Hello DropBox Community Members!
Please vote for my feature request to slightly modify the pop-up that asks if you want to backup a recently connected external hard drive to ask if you want to backup a SPECIFIC VOLUME on a recently connected external hard drive. Thank you.
Mac Pictures should be added at least.
Also custom folders would be nice as there are some applications that will install and use files outside default folders in Windows (some will go under "?:\Users\username" some will really go into "?:\ownfolder"Hello,
I want to use the "back up the contents of your mac" function. In the process configuration I cannot add some folders that I want to back up. It only offers me "desktop + documents + downloads + music + video". For this backup procedure to be useful, an idea: to widen, to relax, the choice of the files to be included in the backup.
Cordially
Glad to see other folks have the same frustration with the Backup feature. Copy pasting my thread with Dropbox support here:
In a Mac, the 'Pictures' folder is clearly a key folder. Whoever designed this feature does not own a Mac. I specifically upgraded to Dropbox Family because of the promise to have a single service (Dropbox) to take care of my file sharing, yes, but also my backup needs.
I would like to request that the 'Pictures' folders be added to the list of 'key' folders. Further, I would like to request that the way backup works be rethought. Most any other cloud backup solution ( Backblaze, SpiderOak One, etc.) allows you to choose the folders that you want to backup, rather than force you from a short allow-list. Why not just backup everything under "/Users/{username}" ?
