Dropbox location change on MacOS 12.6

Thanks for clarifying that for me @OldMacGuy - much appreciated.

Full support for macOS 12.5 and higher has started rolling out. Broader availability will begin in November as we work to preserve the reliability and quality of our sync experience. You will be notified when you’re eligible enroll your other device as well.

So, in essence, this is an update to ensure that the Dropbox desktop app continues working seamlessly on your devices and what you noticed is actually part of this process.

We currently have a private beta, which will be more widely available in October. If you’re interested in joining, you can turn on early releases.

I hope this helps!

All comments

Hey @OldMacGuy, thanks for the report.

When you say you installed the same Dropbox version, did you download and install the desktop app from this page on both devices?

Also, is this causing any specific issues or were you just curious about this?

Any additional information is more than welcome!

OldMacGuy

Walter:

I did not use the download page noted. I received a notice via the DropBox menu bar app that a new version supporting MacOS 12 was available to install. Followed the resulting install dialogue.

Everything appears to be working OK after upgrading on both systems. I am able to add items to my DropBox folder on either system and they sync just fine. I was perplexed by the difference in the installations, given the information detailed in the support doc. I assumed that I would run into the same Dropbox folder relocation on the iMac as I did on the MacBook Pro.

Ultimately, just curious.

Thanks for clarifying that for me @OldMacGuy - much appreciated.

So, in essence, this is an update to ensure that the Dropbox desktop app continues working seamlessly on your devices and what you noticed is actually part of this process.

We currently have a private beta, which will be more widely available in October. If you’re interested in joining, you can turn on early releases.

I hope this helps!

This change prevents having a Dropbox location on an external drive though. Is the update in October going to allow this again? i realize it’s a macOS new restriction but this essentially makes Dropbox worthless to me if I can’t store my 2tb on an external drive. I’ll have to switch to owncloud or something. It’s also not consistent as this post explains. I’ve experienced this too. I have a MacBook Pro M1 Pro on 12.6 and it’s allowing me to keep my Dropbox location on an external ssd but when I migrated that user to a Mac mini I cannot hey it to allow the same and I won’t be able to use Dropbox to store files on the external ssd and sync up with my other devices. I also have a hackintosh on 12.6 and it’s allowing an external location

how can I force Dropbox to allow an external drive location even if macOS doesn’t want it that way? Clearly it’s still possible even on 12.6 as the OP noted as well on their iMac.

John999

I am confused about the effects of update to 12.6. The Dropbox button on top tool bar does not go into the Dropbox folder but a status page with "list" sync history or activity. When I click on folder it comes up with regular Dropbox folders but shows it constantly in sync mode. I have stopped it syncing but whenever I go back it still has a static blue sync indicator. While I have been out of IT for many years this does a. not help b. shows a possible lack of compatibility with 12.6?

Hey @benjackson & @John999 - thank you both for your feedback on this; we'll make sure to pass it to the team.

In regards to your question @benjackson, I'm afraid this is not possible at this time. Is there any specific reason you'd need your Dropbox folder on an external drive?

When it comes to the issue you described @John999, could you send us a screenshot of the app's status as shown in your menu bar so that we can have a visual too?

@Walter wrote:
In regards to your question @benjackson, I'm afraid this is not possible at this time. Is there any specific reason you'd need your Dropbox folder on an external drive?

I, too, rely on an external drive for my Dropbox folder. I have a Dropbox Plus plan, in which I store close to 2TB of data. Unfortunately, my Mac has only 256GB internal storage. I know that I could select online-only for the bulk of my Dropbox files and keep only a select few locally, but I want all 2TB both stored locally and continuously synced to Dropbox. Having my Dropbox folder on an external drive made this possible. Is there an alternate solution that I'm missing?

I really cannot fathom how you can ask that question. "Is there any specific reason you'd need your Dropbox folder on an external drive?" That is so blatantly obvious that I cannot believe you asked it. Internal drives being small, dropboxes being large. Why is that not absolutely obvious!!!

And no, having offline files is NOT an option. My efficiency and workflow is SIGNIFICANTLY effected by this setup. I cannot get any work done at a normal pace.

Unacceptable, especially when competing cloud services have a way around it.

I wonder too! If I’m not going to be able to store on external drive in the future it’s unusable to me (and many of my colleagues working with music production. FAR too big files to store internally)

But, I really can’t a definite answer from Dropbox officials? :
Is it going to be an option to have Dropbox stores on an external hard drive in future releases? Yes or no?

Jay

Hi @podusa, currently, if you're on the new version of the Dropbox desktop application, it wouldn't be possible to move the Dropbox folder to an external drive (or any other location) as this feature is no longer supported by macOS.

We wouldn't have any information on if this would be possible in future releases of the desktop app.

Thank you for the answer, Jay.
Can you use an older version of the client or are they discontinued?

Jay

Downgrading to an older version of the app wouldn't help in this instance, since the app itself would automatically update to the latest version more or less immediately.

Same - in music and video production, just not useable without all the files being local on an external drive.

It is no longer supported by macOS but there is a way around it on other cloud services. Using symlinks.

Looks like it is time to switch!

mscottpath

I've used Dropbox since its earliest days. The inability to have the Dropbox folder on an external drive is crazy in todays world where Apple's default is a <1 TB SSD drive. I'm often in locations with no/poor wireless connectivity as well as having some very large files and need local access. So far (though it is still early in the life of OS 13) other cloud services (e.g., Sync.com) do not seem to demand this change. Between Apples high price for SSDs (and the stupid inability to upgrade local internal local storage post purchase) and Dropbox stating they can't solve this issue, Dropbox will no longer be a viable option. I'll likely not renew my 2 TB Dropbox account because of this.

What a FIASCO, haha. Whoever made this decision should be fired.

Has Dropbox even explained the reason for this change?

Seems like they’re going to force me and many others to cancel our paid Dropbox plans, which is probably not what they want. It’s not even like they have a new, higher-priced product that they’re trying to push us towards.

Are they just lazy about addressing and solving the issue, or are they that ignorant of their customers’ needs?

Or, is it truly a new limitation on Apple’s part? If so, is Dropbox working on a workaround solution? If they are, they should have someone knowledgeable reach out and let us know before we all cancel our paid Dropbox accounts.

It is a limit of newer versions of macOS, but there are also workarounds on other cloud services (using symlinks).

However, my experience is that it's not consistent. I have a hackintosh running the latest macOS 12.6 up until a few days ago, and it did not force my dropbox to move. I have the same experience on my MacBook Pro 16" M1 Pro. One of my user accounts still has the Dropbox connected to an external SSD. So it's obviously still possible. Dropbox FORCES the change sometimes, and definitely with a new install.

I agree on everything in mf88's post.

I mean, who's going to subscribe or need these bigger plans with a lot of storage, not being able to store its content on an external drive? (Especially Mac-users with its limited internal HD-space, as being mentioned I earlier posts). If it just going to be an online "cloudstorage service" there are much cheaper/better options. This is by FAR the most terrible business-decision I've seen. Ever. (

Dropbox will simply stop serving my needs if this change is forced without a workaround. And I, too, have been a customer since the early days.

It seems like they’d have a financial incentive to solve the issue, too. First, to keep us as paying customers. Second, even if it was viable for me (it isn’t) to keep only a small fraction of my data locally and the rest stored online, it would cost them more in bandwidth to constantly be serving my large files to me. Better for them to have me storing most of it locally, right?

I guess I’m most shocked by “Walter” needing to ask a customer in this forum why such a need even exists.

geoffroy_vincens

I've been using dropbox for the last ten years.

I don't care about the desktop app, I would gladly get completely rid of it, I only use dropbox in the finder.

I don't use Smart sync neither, nor do I use any of the new features bloat, I just want to keep using my dropbox like in the early days, as a simple and reliable backup and file sharing solution.

I don't want to change my Dropbox folder, it is a massive regression and I'm dumbstruck to discover just now the app tries to force that on me, and I'm very disappointed to spend my evening on this forum looking for answers.

Is it safe to not update the desktop app while keeping the basic functionality of the service ?

Thanks.

Megan

Hi all, thanks for reaching out about this.

As part of the Dropbox for macOS update, the Dropbox folder must be located in ~/Library/CloudStorage.

Some other things to note about the Dropbox folder location:

- Changing the location of your Dropbox folder is no longer supported by macOS.
- Due to the change of the Dropbox folder location, files that were previously linked in some third-party applications may need to be linked again.
- Storing your Dropbox folder on an external drive is no longer supported by macOS.
- Your Dropbox folder in Finder will now be found under Locations and no longer under Favorites.
- Individual folders can be moved from your Dropbox folder to Favorites for quick access.

We hope that helps!

@Megan With respect, how is that copy-and-paste job supposed to “help”, exactly? It comes across as though you didn’t read or didn’t understand what was being discussed. It actually seems a bit insulting to us users.

Is the Dropbox team completely oblivious to the problem raised here in this thread?

How about, have someone knowledgeable explain why the change was necessary (if it, in fact, was), and also tell us if there is any hope for those of us with less than 2TB internal storage to continue keeping a full local sync of our 2TB Dropbox account? That’s all we are asking for.

geoffroy_vincens

That doesn't answer any of my questions and is in fact a copy of the article that was linked in the update window of the desktop app.

So, no that doesn't help at all.

Agree again with mf88.

They (Dropbox) keeps dodging the question of WHY this change is necessary and if it's permanent?

I'm sure Dropbox-team know very well that this is going to be a "big thing". Are they forced to do it? If so, for what reason? Is it a technical issue?

(I just can't be...it's 2022...really?)

Megan

Hey all, and thanks for writing back.

As with any operating system, macOS is updated regularly and with that we must keep the Dropbox desktop app aligned with any requirements set out by an OS.

Keeping aligned to those requirements ensures that the Dropbox desktop app will provide the best possible experience for all our customers in to the future.

We’ll be sure to pass your feedback along to our Product team.

Thank you.