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Can I sync two personal accounts on one computer?

I have 2 separate dropbox accounts. One is my personal account and one is my Dropbox Plus account for my work (they use separate email addresses). I want to be able to have both dropboxes available at the same time on my imac.

I am logged in to my personal account, when I click on the icon in the top menu bar and then on my avatar the only option I can see are to add a Team Account which I don't have (I did try it and it didn't work). There doesn't appear to be an option to log out of my personal account and log back in to the Plus account.

At the moment I am having to use my web browser to access the Plus account which is not as easy to use as the desktop app. Is it possible to be logged in to both accounts at the same time or is there an easy way to add the plus account to the app and quickly switch between the accounts using the desktop app?

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Megan

Happy to see that your issue is now resolved @colintr!

If you need something else, please let me know and I will be more than happy to help every step of the way! 😀

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Jay

Hi @colintr, thanks for contacting us.

Currently, it isn't possible to have two personal accounts linked in the same way as a personal and work account, in order to have both accounts syncing with separate Dropbox folders.

As a workaround, although this isn't a normal process, you could create a new computer profile, and log in to the other Dropbox account there in the Dropbox desktop application. This way the files would sync on that profile. However, it still wouldn't be easy to transfer files from one account to another, and files will only sync when you're accessing that profile.

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

colintr

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I don't need to transfer files between the 2 accounts or link them in any way, I suppose I'm looking for a way to switch between profiles easily. At the moment if I log out of my personal account it quits the desktop app, when I relaunch the app it automatically logs me in to my personal account without giving me an option to change the account. So the only way to access the Plus account if using the web browser.

Can you explain what you mean by "create a new computer profile" please, that sounds like it might work for me.

Thanks

Jay

A computer profile is basically the username you use to log in to your machine. As it sounds like you're using a Mac, since you mentioned a menu bar, these steps from Apple should help.

Just so you're aware, I'm not sure how fast it is to switch profiles on a Mac device, so it may not be 100% suitable. Bear in mind also that the files on the other computer profile might not be accessible by the normal profile you use, so it could get a little confusing when trying to access those files.

colintr

Hi, thanks. I don't think that would be very practical in the long run.

I think I'll have to stick to being logged in with one profile on the app and use the browser version for the other. But I cant work out how to swap profiles so my Plus account is the one using the desktop app (as I use that one the most it would make sense to have that set up in the app).

When I sign out of my personal profile in the desktop app the app also quits but when I re-launch the app, it automatically signs me back in without asking for my log in details so I can't switch the profile over to my plus account. How do I get the app to launch without automatically signing back in?

Jay

You can log out of the Dropbox desktop application using these steps. Afterwards, you can sign into your Plus account from there.

colintr

thanks, but when I sign out of the desktop app, the app appears to quit, then after a while it opens a window to sign in, but when I click on the sign in button it automatically signs me back in to my personal account without asking for my log in details so I can't switch the profile over to my plus account. How do I get the app to launch without automatically signing back in?

Hannah

Hey @colintr, can you send us a screenshot of what you're clicking on, before the app automatically signs you into your personal account?

Just make sure to hide any personal info, like your email address, from the screenshot.

colintr

Screen Shot1.png

Screen Shot2.png

screen shot3.jpeg

Screen Shot4.png

Hi, these screen shots show the steps I'm going through to log out

Thanks

Hannah

Thanks so much for the screenshots, @colintr, this is super helpful!

If you go to your account settings online and click the trash can next to the particular computer in the "devices" section, to unlink it from your account, are you then able to sign in with your other account's credentials on the app?

colintr

Hi, no, that didnt work. It still logged me in automatically to my basic account when I restarted dropox

Megan

Hey @colintr, let me also jump in here!

When you try to sign in to your Plus account on the desktop app, have you made sure you're signed in online with the same account too? Sometimes this does the trick.

colintr

Hi Megan,

I was signed in online, so I signed out and back in again and it seems to have worked.

Thanks for your help with this, I didn't think it would be so difficult to change which account I logged into. Maybe a more simple way to swap accounts could be added to DropBox in future updates.

Thanks

Megan

Happy to see that your issue is now resolved @colintr!

If you need something else, please let me know and I will be more than happy to help every step of the way! 😀