Computer backup lets you back up certain key folders on your computer, such as “Desktop”, “Documents”, and “Downloads”, to Dropbox.
After backup, those folders, and the files within them, are still accessible from the same place on your computer, while also backed up to Dropbox. Any changes or deletions you make to those folders from your computer, or in Dropbox, will be reflected in both places. You can access those folders, which are backed up under “My Mac [Your device name]” or “My PC [Your device name]”, from anywhere you use Dropbox, such as dropbox.com, the Dropbox mobile app, and the Dropbox desktop app on other computers.
Like any files stored in Dropbox, you can view version history on these files and restore previous versions.
How to set up computer backup
To get to your Dropbox folder in the future, open Finder (it’s the smiling Mac icon in the Dock, typically located at the bottom of the screen) and click Dropbox in the left panel. If you want to move the Dropbox folder to another location on your Mac, see Move the Dropbox Folder to a New Location. Add a second Dropbox account to the desktop app. Connect your personal account and work account. If your app isn't up-to-date, download and install the latest version of the desktop app. Click the Dropbox icon in your system tray. Click your avatar (profile picture or initials) and select Preferences from the menu. Select the Account tab. Dropbox offers computer apps for Microsoft Windows, Apple macOS, and Linux computers, and mobile apps for iOS, Android, and Windows Phone smartphones and tablets. In March 2013, the company acquired Mailbox, a popular email app, and in April 2014, the company introduced Dropbox Carousel, a photo and video gallery app. . Access your files using Finder in Mac OS, OneDrive online or in the mobile app. Access files offline on your smartphone, Mac, or tablet. Save local space on your Mac with Files On-Demand. File sharing. Share docs, photos, videos, and albums with friends and family. Work in the same document with others in real time with. If you go to dropbox.com and go to your account settings, there will be a security tab where you can see all of your linked devices. From there, you can forcibly unlink the account from the device, or if you forgot to remove Dropbox, you can unlink the device AND have the dropbox application erase all of your dropbox content on that machine.
Before setting up computer backup, do the following:
- Close all open files and applications on your computer.
- Install the Dropbox desktop application, if you haven’t already.
- If you’ve paused syncing, resume it.
- Connect to internet.
- If any of the folders are already backed up to another cloud storage provider (like iCloud, OneDrive, or Google Backup and Sync), disable those backups. (If you’re not sure how, consult that company’s help center).
To set up computer backup:
- Click the Dropbox icon in your system tray (Windows) or menu bar (Mac).
- Click your profile picture or initials.
- Click Preferences.
- Click the Backups tab.
- Click Manage backup.
- Check the folders you’d like to back up.
- If your work and personal accounts are connected, choose which Dropbox account you’d like to back up your folders to.
- Click Next or Set up (depending on your account), and follow the steps.
- Mac users: Click OK when prompted to give Dropbox permission to access your folders.
If any files fail to back up, a shortcut will be created in Dropbox called “Files on my computer” that will take you to their location on your computer.
Troubleshoot computer backup
If you experience errors during setup
If you get an error while setting up computer backup, try the following troubleshooting steps before attempting setup again:
- Close any files or applications that use data in the folders you’d like to back up.
- Disable any other cloud-storage-provider folders (like iCloud, OneDrive, or Google Backup and Sync) from the folders you’d like to back up.
- Allow edit permissions on all files and folders you’d like to back up.
- Learn how to allow permission on Windows.
- Learn how to allow permissions on Mac.
- If you’re using a Mac, make sure you allow access to files and folders in your security and privacy settings.
- Note: You must have admin permissions on your computer to change permissions.
- If the Dropbox folder is in one of the folders you’d like to back up, move it back to its original, default location.
- If the Dropbox folder and the folders you’d like to back up aren’t on the same hard drive, move them to the same hard drive. For example, if your folders are on an external hard drive, and the Dropbox folder is on your computer’s hard drive, move them to the same hard drive.
If you don’t see your files after turning on computer backup
![Computer Computer](/uploads/1/3/3/9/133948166/750634766.png)
Any files that failed to backup to Dropbox will be in a folder called “Files on my computer” instead.
Mac users: If you don’t see your files in Finder after backup, force quit Finder and relaunch it.
If you have issues with an application after turning on computer backup
Restart the application. In particular, we recommend restarting:
- Firefox
- Google Chrome
- Microsoft Money
- Microsoft Outlook
- Safari
- If you’re on Windows and using Microsoft Edge, your Microsoft Edge downloads won’t sync to your “Downloads” folder in Dropbox with this feature. To sync your Microsoft Edge downloads to Dropbox anyway, manually change where your Microsoft Edge files download to Dropbox.
![Windows Windows](/uploads/1/3/3/9/133948166/765149237.jpg)
If your files aren’t syncing as expected
Make sure the Dropbox desktop application is installed on your computer.
Learn how to check syncing status, prioritize which files sync first, or prevent some files from syncing.
You can’t move, delete, rename, or share your folders after backup
After backup, you can’t move, delete, or rename the top-level folders you’ve backed up (like “Desktop”, “Documents”, and “Downloads”, or “My Mac” and “My PC”). However, you can move, delete, and rename the files within them. You won’t be able to share those folders in Dropbox by inviting people to them via email, but you can still share those folders with a link and share any files or folders within them.
Turn off computer backup
Notes:
- You must have the Dropbox desktop application installed to turn off computer backup. If you already uninstalled the desktop application, reinstall the desktop application to turn off computer backup.
- Deleting the files or folders in “My PC”or “My Mac” will delete those files from both Dropbox and your computer.
- If you no longer have access to the device, you can turn off computer backup by unlinking the device from your Dropbox account.
To turn off computer backup:
- Click the Dropbox icon in your system tray (Windows) or menu bar (Mac).
- Click your profile picture or initials.
- Click Preferences.
- Click the Backups tab.
- Click Manage backup.
- Uncheck the folders you’d like to stop backing up to Dropbox or uncheck My Mac/My PC to turn off backup for all folders at once.
- Click Save.
- Choose Keep content in folders on this PC/Mac or Leave content in Dropbox.
- If you choose Keep content in folders on this PC/Mac, the files and folders you stopped backing up can be found in their original folders on your computer.
- If you choose Leave content in Dropbox, new files you add to those folders will save to their original folders on your computer, but the files and folders you previously backed up to Dropbox with computer backup will remain in your Dropbox account. On your computer, they’ll be accessible by shortcuts, in their original folders, called “My files in Dropbox”.
- Note: If you see Set Up instead, it means computer backup is already off.
- Click Stop backup.
- Click Close.
If you upgrade to Dropbox Business
If you upgrade your account to Dropbox Business after setting up computer backup, you can still use this feature, but back up is stopped. You can set it up again after you upgrade.
If you recently upgraded to the latest version of macOS, and you have the Dropbox desktop app installed on your computer, we recommend you update to the latest version of Dropbox for the best experience.
Notifications
After updating your device to macOS Catalina, you’ll see a notification that says “Dropbox Would Like to Send You Notifications”.
Dropbox Paper App For Mac
Clicking Allow ensuresyou’ll stay up-to-date on all of your file activity.
You can change your notification preferences at any time by opening System Preferences and clicking Notifications.
Camera uploads
When you plug your mobile device into your computer after updating to macOS 10.15, you’ll see a notification that says “’Dropbox’ would like to access files on a removable volume.”
Dropbox App For Mac Catalina
Clicking OK ensures Dropbox uploads photos from your mobile device automatically. Learn more about Camera uploads.
Get Dropbox App For Mac
Screenshots and screen recordings
After taking your first screenshot or screen recording on macOS Catalina, you may see a notification that says “’Dropbox’ would like to access files in your Desktop folder.”
Clicking OK allows all of your screenshots and screen recordings to automatically save to a Dropbox folder called Screenshots.