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Dropbox Migration to a New Mac With the New Cloud Storage Setup

On my primary computer, I keep all Dropbox files in offline mode.

I've updated to the new Dropbox setup that places the Dropbox folder in ~/Library/CloudStorage.

I'm wondering what will happen when I move to a new Mac in the future. In the past, the macOS transfer program would transfer all my files to the new computer's drive, and then Dropbox would reindex them (rather than having to redownload all the files from Dropbox). What will happen now with the new Dropbox setup?

Thanks.

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fssbob

Got it! Thanks--that makes sense.

Can I suggest that your development people review this and see if it's possible to update the Dropbox application at some point in the future so these steps are no longer necessary. The way things worked BEFORE the current change was simpler and less time-and-bandwidth consuming: You just had to run the standard Apple migration, and and then connect the new computer to your Dropbox account (no reinstallation necessary). At that point Dropbox would update its indexing without requiring re-download of the Dropbox contents.

All comments

Jay

Hi @fssbob, thanks for messaging the Community.

To prevent any unexpected behavior, we'd recommend allowing the Dropbox desktop application to sync the files from the site directly when migrating to a new Mac.

If you have any further queries, feel free to message back.

fssbob

So what would be the steps? The standard Apple migration process will copy both the configured Dropbox application and ~/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox (along with its contents) onto the new Mac. Can you list the exact steps I need to follow after that.

Thanks.

Jay

My recommendation would be to not migrate the Dropbox app, or the Dropbox folder itself, since that usually causes permission issues even today on the older version.

On the new Mac, you can reinstall the app from the site, sign into the app, and then let the files sync down from the site.

fssbob

I don't think the Apple migration program lets you choose which apps and docs to migrate--I think it's all or nothing. I wouldn't want to sacrifice all my other apps and docs just to keep Dropbox from migrating.

This was easily handled with the older version just by letting Dropbox reindex the Dropbox folder.

Given how universal a problem this is, I think it might be useful for someone from Dropbox to work with it and create a help article or blog post on how to handle it after Apple's standard migration.

Thanks.

fssbob

I'm hoping to see a response to this here since it's a universal issue that I think will be relevant to others (with the new Dropbox setup, how to migrate to a new Mac without having to give up the standard Apple update program just for the sake of Dropbox). But would it be better if I ask it as a support request instead?

Thanks.

fssbob

I'm following up on this since there hasn't been a response for a while.

When most Mac users purchase or otherwise switch to a new Mac, they run the standard Apple transfer program to transfer the content from their old Mac. (It can use a Time Machine backup as a source, but more commonly it just migrates content directly from the old Mac to the new Mac.)

With the new Mac setup, is Dropbox still recommending that, after switching to a new Mac and running the standard Apple transfer program, you delete your Dropbox folder and installation and then reinstall fresh? This wasn't required previously, but I gather from what you've said earlier in this thread that that it now is?

Thanks.

Nancy

Hi @fssbob! Hope you’re doing well.

In general, when setting up a new device, we recommend a clean install of the Dropbox app on it, so that you may avoid any possible issues that may occur (like permission issues etc).

fssbob

I understand that--but it doesn't answer my question.

After a Dropbox user purchases or otherwise obtains a new Mac and runs the standard Apple migration program--which almost everyone will do--the existing Dropbox application and folder WILL have been copied to it. You can't "not do" this--it's part of the standard Apple setup.

So given that the Dropbox program and folder will be copied to the new Mac by the standard Apple setup, what do you mean by "do a clean install"? Are you telling Mac users to delete their Dropbox folder and application, and then install again?

Hannah

Sorry to jump in here, @fssbob.

I understand where you're coming from, so a way to avoid this, if you'll no longer be using your old computer, would be the following:

Before the migration, unlink the old computer from Dropbox. This will disconnect it from your account.
Delete the Dropbox app and the Dropbox folder from the old computer. You're safe to do this, as long as the computer is unlinked.
Proceed with the migration
Install the Dropbox application on the new computer and sign in to your account.

fssbob

Got it! Thanks--that makes sense.

Artsi01253

Yes thanks

MortenRavnbo

Hi! I recently bought a new mac and migrated everything from my old mac.

Dropbox was not uninstalled on my old mac before the transfer. Did not think of that as an option, and maybe would not have deared to... ?

So… now there is Dropbox on both, same login and I can see the files in the Dropbox-folders on the new Mac, but – I can't access them...? When I "right-click" a file, there is no Dropbox-menu choices. And I can't open any of the files. I get a notice that says something like: "… file is an online only file. Open it by first moving it to your Dropbox folder." Which does not make any sense, as the file IS already in the Dropbox folder.

So what to do now to make it work? Tomorrow I will have an intern that would need to access the files.

Will it help to log out from my old mac, to avoid conflicts? Or do i really HAVE TO delete the whole Dropbox on my old mac?

Or… delete the whole Dropbox on the new one and install and update that one from scratch – which might take a long time... ?

I would prefer to have both machines up and running, mirrored, so that both are fully functional. Feels safer.

Is that possible, without having two accounts?

Hannah

Hey @MortenRavnbo, sorry to hear about this.

Did you install the Dropbox application on the new computer as well?

If you did, and you click on your Dropbox icon and then on the folder icon next to your initials, are you taken to a folder where you can actually access your files?

MortenRavnbo

Hi! As mentioned I just migrated everything from my old computer, so Dropbox was already there, and I just logged in.
So yes, the icon for my account is there and all the files and folders that was there when I migrated. But they where not available / possible to open and did not sync with my old mac.

But today: Everything seems to work?? It syncs with my old computer. And I can open all files from Dropbox and the rightclick menuoptions shows up...?

What happened? It has been without sync for two weeks and now suddenly works, without me doing anything??
A little mystery, but great news! :-

MortenRavnbo

Oups! I was a little too quick and joyful there. I now see that only 1/4 of my files is in the Dropboxfolder on the new mac...? I can access everything via the browser, but the local folder lacks a lot of stuff... Very strange. Maybe it is some kind of syncing that's going on? (And that only syncs when the mac is being used?)

But if I click in on the little Dropboxicon in the top of my screen, it says "everything is synced". Which is obviously not the case... No work going on...

Maybe this is something different? "Indexing" maybe? Super strange.

Hannah

Hey @MortenRavnbo, thanks for keeping us updated on this!

Is this what you see in the folder I asked you to check?

The one you're redirected to when you click on the Dropbox icon and then on the folder icon?

TilmanM

Hi, is this still the way to move to a new mac? I will get a new one tomorrow and want to do the migration. It is kind of frustrating to find this very important information in an old thread – after 30 minutes of searching for it. There should be a step by step instruction on the dropbox homepage... (if there is, I would appreciate the link – tank you)

Megan

Hey there, @TilmanM, wishing you a happy Monday!

Just to make sure we're on the same page here: do you wish to move your new Mac to the File Provider update, or do you simply wish to know how to set-up a new device with the Dropbox app?

Provided you're talking about the File Provider update, feel free to take a look at this Help Center article.

If you have any questions, I'm always at your service!

fssbob

I don't think @TilmanM is talking about either of those options. They're not asking about switching an existing Dropbox install to use the File Provider update, and they're not asking about setting up a new device with the Dropbox app.

Whey I believe they ARE asking about is migrating from an old Mac with the File Provider update already active to a new Mac they've purchased. The standard way of doing this is Apple's migration app. Based on past guidance you've provided, they will now need to jump through some hoops to uninstall Dropbox from the old Mac before running Apple's migration app, and then reinstalling Dropbox and redownloading everything they want available offline. That's the situation an increasing number of Mac owners who are already using the File Provider update are facing, and in my opinion Dropbox has dropped the ball on handling it adequately (or even providing guidance how to do it given the existing requirements).

Thanks.

TilmanM

Yes, thank you. This is what I am asking about, but I guess I'll be jumping through the hoops 🙂

stephen_

Hi fssbob. Thanks for your persistence with seeking clarification on this issue. Did you end up following the steps and all worked as expected? Deleting the Dropbox folder from the old Mac feels like a massive step, one that it's hard to go back from if things don't work out as expected.

I just got a new MacBook, but I'm still "not eligible for the new Dropbox for macOS on File Provider". So, I'm still unclear on whether these steps apply to me, or whether I should continue to wait. Fun times!

fssbob

Hi Stephen,

Yes, I followed the steps and it worked. Wasn't fun though.

When you say you're still "not eligible for the new Dropbox for macOS on File Provider", where and when do you see that message? My memory is that Dropbox first installs everything in the old location, and only then tells you it's ready to move the Dropbox contents to the new location, which might be the point at which it says you're "eligible". I discovered that one way to speed up that process was to use "Selective sync" to temporarily specify only one small Dropbox folder was to be added to my Mac. After it downloaded, Dropbox informed me I was ready for the new setup, and I clicked the "OK" button. It performed the move. And then I specified add the rest of my folders, at which point they were added in the new location.

The whole process appears to have been designed only to handle an existing legacy Dropbox user--not a user who is installing on or updating to a new Mac. I can't imagine how many users Dropbox has lost over the frustration in dealing with this fragile and obtuse process.

stephen_

Hello! I see that message when I go into my Dropbox preferences and click on the Sync tab. It's under a heading that says 'Dropbox folder updates'. I remember maybe a year ago I had an option for early access to the file provider update, but I was nervous about the impact on my workflow, so left things how they were. I decided I was finally ready to jump in, but no longer have the option to switch.

I went into Selective Sync, and tried unticking an existing folder, and creating a new one to sync one file to, but the message under Preferences > Sync is still saying the same thing. Tried restarting the app too, but no difference. I'm just one user on this company Dropbox account, so I'm hesitant to try too many workarounds.

My current MacBook (Intel) is fiiiiine, but the new one that became available (Apple Silicon) is appealing. As you mention, I used Migration Assistant to transfer everything from old to new, but when I opened Dropbox on the new one and logged in there were all sorts of unsynced files and permission errors and I had work deadlines to meet, so I shut it down and went back to my old MacBook. Now I'm hesitant to try again, because what if I unlink the old MacBook and remove the app, do the transfer and then discover the same issues are there. I can't just jump back onto my old Macbook like nothing happened.

And now that I know I'm not using the "latest and greatest" Dropbox, who knows what other factors that introduces. Better just to play it safe, leave things how they are, and dream of how Apple Silicon could be speeding up my After Effects rendering. 🙂

Appreciate your time responding.

stephen_

Hello @Hannah (and @fssbob)

So, after my previous failed attempt to transfer from my old MacBook Pro (2019) to my new MacBook Pro (2021), I followed your steps this weekend. I think they would benefit from a few more details, as I still had a few heart-in-mouth moments pressing delete, and some of the steps didn't align exactly with what I was expecting.

For example, after I had done the transfer, I installed the Dropbox app on my new MacBook Pro and the first message I got on opening was, "Your Dropbox account (1,343.2 GB) is too large to fit on this computer (617.9 GB remaining). To continue, choose which folders you want to sync to this computer. The rest of your files are available on dropbox.com."

[Choose folders] [Sync everything]

I had been hoping that it would just replicate the status of my old MacBook Pro — if a file was synced locally before, it would be synced locally now. And I was unclear exactly what was meant by [Sync everything]. Everything?? I thought there wasn't enough room? I wasn't sure what the consequences were if I was to click it.

So I clicked [Choose folders] but all the folders were ticked, and the [Update] button was greyed out, so I clicked [Close], and the window disappeared and I got a message saying, "There's an issue opening Dropbox files while they're online-only. Right now, some apps on your Mac might have trouble opening online-only files. You can always open Dropbox files by double-clicking them in Finder. Everything else is working as usual, and we've got a fix in progress."

Which was fine, that's been the whole issue for many years. So I clicked [Got it] and then... nothing seemed to happen. I clicked on the Dropbox folder in the sidebar, and it was completely empty. I started to panic, but then a second later the folders appeared, although they were empty. So I clicked on the Dropbox icon up top and thankfully saw the status was syncing many thousands of files and it said it would take an hour or so.

So I let it do its thing and finally it said "All your files are up to date", but not a single file is synced locally. Every single file is online. And I'm now having to go through file after file, manually syncing files locally and repairing broken links.

So I'm guessing I should have clicked [Sync everything]? Would that have downloaded onto my new MacBook anything that had been downloaded on the old one?

Apologies for the very long message. Thanks for your time.

stephen_

@Hannah And for clarity, I should perhaps add I am running macOS Sonoma 14.6.1 and Dropbox v209.3.3602, and when I click Dropbox > Preferences > Sync, under 'Dropbox folder updates' it says, "You are not eligible for the new Dropbox for macOS on File Provider at this time."

fssbob

A follow-up note after reading about Dropbox's layoffs and current financial difficulties. In my opinion Dropbox has made the classic mistake of putting too many resources into developing sexy new features while failing to maintain the strength of its core technology. Over time, most Mac users migrate to newer machines. At that point Dropbox still forces them to go through a needlessly long, complex, and painful process, and many customers simply give up and decide to abandon Dropbox. It's now been two years since the original Forum discussion about this. That's easily enough time for Dropbox development to have improved the process if it had been given priority.

fssbob

Also see this more recent message: https://www.dropboxforum.com/discussions/101001016/dropbox-migration-to-a-new-mac-with-the-new-cloud-storage-setup/661112/replies/807160

stephen_

Yes, classic, for sure. I'm sure there are many companies this applies to, but Adobe's one that impacts me every day. Diverted all their resources to developing AI technologies no one wants, while neglecting the features and foundations we rely on.

Disappointing thing in this thread is that even if Dropbox's best advice is to follow a long series of steps, it would be great if someone from the company could document those steps and publish them! "How to migrate to your new Mac (with screenshots)". Dropbox for Dummies. File management can be nerve-racking, especially when deleting/removing things is involved, so an authorised step-by-step procedure to follow would be great.