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Documents and Desktop Sync Multiple Macs

Years back, I used symlinks to sync my Home directory folders to Dropbox between multiple Macs. Of course, that isn't possible any longer, and I had to drop the links. Since then, Dropbox introduced backups, and I see now they allow all the Home directory folders to be backed up. My question is, can I use Backup as I did with the symlink and sync the Home directory Folders between multiple Macs, or will Dropbox create multiple root folders for each system?

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FAQ

Computer Backup

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Accepted answers

Megan

Hi @Double-T, happy Monday, I hope you're doing well!

When you use the computer backup feature, you'll have separate folders within your Dropbox folder for each device.

If you have three Mac devices, each will be labeled "Mac 1," "Mac 2," and so on.

I hope this helps to clarify things.

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Megan

dpx

Yes, but what if you precisely want that the Macs share the same backup folders instead of separate ones like Mac 1, MLac 2, etc, so that they remain in sync?

Walter

Hey @dpx, sorry to jump in here, but can you elaborate on your use-case a tad?

At the moment, you should be able to access your computer's backed up folders from your other connected computers as well - their names would appear the same on all devices for clarity.

dpx

Thanks for the question.

The use case would be to have two macs that would be kept perfectly synchronized through dropbox including their Desktop, Document, Download, etc folders. One computer, say would be at home and the other at work; working on one would update everything on the other so that switching computers would become seamless. With the existing systems both are backuped, but in different directories., requiring manually synchronizing these directories.

Megan

Hi @dpx, happy Friday!

That sounds like a great feature request. If you have a moment, feel free to share your thoughts on our 'Share an idea' section of the community.

Just keep in mind of these 10 tips for posting before you do. That way other users have an idea of what you're suggesting, so they can also back you up.

If you need anything else, let me know.

anthonymobile

this is possible using symlinks to Dropbox

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/370630/sync-desktop-now-that-dropbox-no-longer-supports-symlinks

i typically do it like this (make sure you backup your existing desktop first)

sudo rm -r ~/Desktop && sudo ln -s ~/Dropbox/Desktop ~/Desktop && sudo chflags -h uchg ~/Desktop