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My videos are automatically uploaded to Instagram. How can I stop it?

Something has changed here for the worse. Why is Dropbox making decisions for me without my permission??

I have uploaded a video which then I was going to post to Instagram FROM my Instagram account, in the process of which I need to add collaborators, tag people, add description etc.

But the moment my video was uploaded, I saw it said UPLOADED TO INSTAGRAM.

What?????

I did NOT select or authorise an auto upload. I don't allow anything auto as I need to control the process with additional information and action.

I did NOT link my Instagram account with Dropbox. So where and how exactly it has posted my video?

When I searched online, the instructions I found are confusing as I can't find anything they are talking about.

So here are my questions:

1. I did NOT select or authorise an auto upload. I don't allow anything auto as I need to control the process with additional information and action. Why is Dropbox posting my uploaded videos to Instagram without my permission? How does it decide that the video reel is for Instagram? It might be for a completely different purpose NOT to be published in Insta!!!

2. How can I stop it? Online posts say I need to change the BACKUP setting under Preferences - but I do NOT have this option there. This is terribly confusing and frustrating. I want to be able to upload a video without an AI deciding what it is and what to do with it !!! That's something I DECIDE and did NOT give the Dropbox AI my permission to do anything on my behalf!!

3. Does it actually post those videos to the account timeline? Some online post say that this is a BACKUP. So is it a backup or it is actually posted to Instagram?? I didn't wait to check and quickly deleted the video. I can't risk it being posted without me doing what I need to do with it first. Where exactly is this BACKUP setting? I can't see it anywhere in my dashboard.

Could someone please explain this mess to me and tell me how the heck can I STOP all those auto decisions by AI on my account.

In the meantime I have to use my email to upload this reel from my phone.

thanks

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Hannah

Hi again, @quantum88.

Just to clarify, the backup and Camera Uploads desktop app preferences can only be accessed from the desktop app preferences on your computer, not online or from the mobile app.

If you're not even using the desktop app, then I still think it's not related.

However the screenshot you sent us after recreating the issue, leads me to think that the videos are getting uploaded to your "Instagram" folder in your Dropbox account, not your Instagram account.

You mentioned you have a folder named "Instagram" in your Dropbox account, right?

I believe that if you tap on that "Instagram" hyperlink, you should get directed to the folder.

Can you check so we can confirm this?

All comments

Hannah

Hey quantum88, thanks for posting to our Community.

Can you describe the steps you followed to upload the video to your Dropbox account in the first place?

Are you able to reproduce the issue again with the same steps?

Let me know what you find and we'll go from there.

quantum88

Hi Hannah

thanks for your reply.

I uploaded the video as usual to the Instagram folder. As soon as it was done, I saw a note in the same window underneath the file: "Posted to Instagram".

Not "Post to Instagram" or "Would you like to post it to Instagram?" or any future tense or question.

POSTED. That's a past tense.

If you say that there is not such an option - how can you explain all those online posts (not just one but many, including Google AI) about having to change the setting in Dropbox to stop automatic posting to Instagram?

I would need to upload another video, I don't have the time to do it rights now.

Hannah

To correct my initial response, there is a feature that allows you to post photos/videos to Instagram, however, some criteria need to be met and you'd have to follow some specific steps to do it (so it's not done automatically by itself).

Do you remember following these steps here?

quantum88

no, I didn't. I don't have a Facebook page, closed it long ago and have no intention to create one. As I said - I just uploaded the video and immediately saw this notice:
POSTED to INSTAGRAM .

How can you explain it?

and also this from Google search

Where is the BACKUPS setting in Preferences? It's not in my settings.

Hannah

Hi again, @quantum88.

The article I linked in my previous response applies to Instagram as well, not just Facebook.

Also, the steps in your screenshot are steps that you can use to disable the Camera Uploads feature on your Dropbox desktop app.

The preferences in question can be found when clicking on the Dropbox icon in your system tray/menu bar.

But Camera Uploads does not automatically upload photos or videos from your Dropbox account to Instagram.

Does your Instagram/Meta account appear to be connected to your Dropbox here perhaps?

quantum88

hi Hannah

We are still not on the same page here, and regrettably, this conversation is going in dribs and drabs as you (1) don't address directly my specific questions and (2) you keep changing your advice and keep adding new information to it, which you could have provided in your first reply.

Of course, I read in your article that it relates to posting to both Instagram and Facebook.

Since my post is about Instagram (I haven't mentioned Facebook in it), and your article states that

I addressed that requirement by stating that I don't have a Facebook account - meaning that the system could not even try to post my video to Instagram, even if I wanted to. So that excludes this type of error.

Hannah wrote:
The preferences in question can be found when clicking on the Dropbox icon in your system tray/menu bar.

I don't have the Dropbox icon in my system tray/menu bar. But if I did, and clicked on it, what would happen next? would it open my Account Settings?

I log in to Drobox in my browser. Ok, so I go to Account then Settings - and I do not have these options there. Your linked articles direct me to the BACKUP and CAMERA UPLOADS tabs/options - none of which appear in my Preferences.

I vaguely recall than when I first opened my Dropbox account I had this app icon in my system tray, which I have removed as it kept me logged in all the time using up significant amounts of my system resources. I discovered this by chance when investigating why there was such a high usage with very few apps open - and found that Dropbox app in the background was the culprit.

I use Dropbox only occasionally when I need to give access to someone to a large file, which happens on average maybe once or twice a month. Also occasionally, I was going to use Dropbox to post my reels to Instagram. This doesn't justify using so much of my computer resources by being continuously logged in.

How can I access those BACKUP and CAMERA settings while logged in the browser?

Finally, I was able to recreate the original issue.

Please note - have already deleted this upload.

About using Dropbox to post reels on Instagram - I have done it before, may be twice. from my Instagram account, where I had an option to upload the video from Dropbox, and it was a quick and easy process. I was taken to my account, selected the video sitting in my folder, and it was downloaded to Instagram. I did all this from my phone.

Hannah

Hi again, @quantum88.

Just to clarify, the backup and Camera Uploads desktop app preferences can only be accessed from the desktop app preferences on your computer, not online or from the mobile app.

If you're not even using the desktop app, then I still think it's not related.

However the screenshot you sent us after recreating the issue, leads me to think that the videos are getting uploaded to your "Instagram" folder in your Dropbox account, not your Instagram account.

You mentioned you have a folder named "Instagram" in your Dropbox account, right?

I believe that if you tap on that "Instagram" hyperlink, you should get directed to the folder.

Can you check so we can confirm this?

quantum88

Hi Hannah

Ok I uploaded a new file and it said Uploaded to Files. So yes, you are correct. Because before I was uploading to the Instagram folder, that was confusing as I took as the file was uploaded to my Instagram.

But why certain features are available only on the desktop app and not when logged online? Why do you have two platforms anyway (on computer) - online and app? what's the difference? do you have an article explaining this?

Hannah

I'm glad we found out what the issue was, @quantum88.

As for the Dropbox platforms, they all have some differences between them, because not all of them do the exact same thing.

For example, when you upload files using the website, they're just stored in our servers but they don't take up any physical space on your computer.

With the desktop app, the files are also stored on your hard drive and any changes you make to them locally from the hard drive, are syncing to your account online.

You can read more about the desktop app here.

I hope this helps.

quantum88

Hannah wrote:
For example, when you upload files using the website, they're just stored in our servers but they don't take up any physical space on your computer.

That's not true - unless perhaps I upload a file from another computer, phone or website. When I upload a file from my computer, it always stays on there and only a copy is uploaded.

Your article is not very helpful as it only says how to install the Dropbox app and briefly what it does, but doesn't explain the difference between the two by comparing what can and can't be done on each one - which is what I'd like to know, given that for the reasons described earlier I choose not to use the app.

Also, I still can't see the need for two computer platforms - online and app and why the additional functions of the app can't be included in the online version.

I mean, since everyone can login online, why forcing them to install an app that uses huge amounts of memory (just check in your Task Manager people!) in the background by just siting there.

Jay

Hi @quantum88, the Dropbox desktop application is used to sync files directly from your machine to the Dropbox site and from there to other devices. This way you can add, edit and delete files in the Dropbox folder, and the app will automatically sync the changes for you.

This also includes any changes on your account from the site to your computer, such as if a file is updated from another machine.

Without the app installed, you need to manually download and upload files to the Dropbox site. You can't directly sync files immediately from the site without the desktop app installed.

quantum88

ok, thanks.