Resync existing Dropbox local folder with existing Dropbox pro account

Question

Hi here,

I have a pro Dropbox account and we are three people that work with that account. I installed a NAS in my office and I could not use the NAS Dropbox folder with the Dropbox app, so I used the NAS sync utility which worked fine.

When I updated the NAS firmware the Sync utility stopped working, so I had to find a solution to sync my files to Dropbox and I decided to use a DAS connected to my computer via USB, copy my dropbox folder to the DAS and synchronize it using the dropbox app. I'm on Windows 10.

I installed the app and when I want to choose the PC folder, which is called "Dropbox", the app don't allow me to choose that folder. It keeps on creating a new folder called "Fotografia Dropbox" and I cannot change that name.

I have 12 Tb in my account and, of course, I don't want to resync all the folder. What I'd like is tell Dropbox the folder that I already have at my computer.

Does anyone know how to do that?

Thank you in advance!

ca2011 · Answer

I have the same issue, I wanted to resync already-existing folders because the Dropbox I had before caused my PC to run so slow. And I had almost a terabyte of files which I did not want to re-download again. This did it for me.

Hannah · Answer

Hey Frances, sorry for the delay here. Are you still having an issue, or did you figure this out?

If not, have you tried reinstalling the Dropbox application and choosing the 'advanced' setup during the installation process?

This should allow you to choose the parent folder of the existing Dropbox folder as the location for the new install, so as to merge the folders without re-downloading the files.

For example, if your old Dropbox folder was in: C:\Desktop\Dropbox, you would need to choose C:\Desktop.

Keep in mind that a NAS drive is not an ideal location for the Dropbox folder. Preferably, you'd need to keep Dropbox installed on an internal drive.

FrancescMuntada · Answer

Thank you Hannah for your reply,

If I understand if I use your solution (rename the Dropbox folder I have now to Dropbox (old), stop synchonizing and select the new Fotografia Dropbox folder) Dropbox will download all my content again and that's more than 12 TBs... It will take months to do so!

What I'll like is to resync my existing Drobox folder, which contains all these files, with my cloud Dropbox folder, which contains all these files too.

What will happen if I rename my existing "Dropbox" folder to "Fotografia Dropbox"? Will the dropbox app really resync both folders without dowloading all them again?

And another question. I understand that in the cloud storage you name the folders the way which is better for you. But, why cannot I use any folder an my local computer? I have the feelig that this is a bug in the app. Isn't it?

Thank you!