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Time machine Unable to backup .dropbox

steveb1947

I am using Time machine to backup my MacBook Pro. Time Machine reports on every backup cycle, that it cannot complete the backup due to it being unable to backup a particular file. The file is:

.dropbox/events/store.

I cannot find this file anywhere. It is not hidden. I have tried to include it in the list of files to NOT backup, but Time Machine still reports the same error.

I have tried searching on this file but to no avail.

I have added the entire DropBox folder to the Do Not Backup list, but Time Machine still reports the same error.

Has anyone seen this before?

Previously I have used SuperDuper! to create all my backups without any issues on my older iMac. Since this is a new Mac (MacBook Pro), I thought I would use the Time Machine app, which I have not used before.

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks and Best regards.

Steve.

MacBook Pro M1 Max.

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Walter

Hey @steveb1947, thanks for posting on our Community!

I'm afraid I don't have much to offer here as it's not really recommended to have Time Machine interact with your Dropbox folder.

You can have a look at this discussion for more information.

I hope this helps a tad, Steve.

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Walter

Hey @steveb1947, thanks for posting on our Community!

I'm afraid I don't have much to offer here as it's not really recommended to have Time Machine interact with your Dropbox folder.

You can have a look at this discussion for more information.

I hope this helps a tad, Steve.

steveb1947

Hi Walter,

Thanks for the suggestion. I've had Dropbox deleted from the TimeMachine backup, but it still reports the .dropbox file that it cannot backup. I have no idea how to fix this.

Thanks for your reply. Much appreciated.

Regards

Steve

Walter

In that case, you may want to contact Apple and ask for more information directly, Steve.

They should be able to help you further.

Let us know of any updates!

Здравко

Hi @steveb1947 and @Walter,

As far as I can see, you are discussing for different things. The initial issue is that the TimeMachine can't sync particular file in Dropbox preferences. I'm not sure, but a possible reason could be it's used at that time by the Dropbox application. Later you are trying to find it within Dropbox data folder. 🤷 Of course, you gonna find nothing (the preferences are not kept within Dropbox folder itself).

@steveb1947 I can't see any reason to backup any Dropbox preferences, so just exclude entire preferences folder from TimeMachine. Dropbox keeps its preferences in "~/.dropbox". 😉

Hope this helps.