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How to recover files I removed from drop box Mac

I wanted to save my files to an external drive.

So I drug them out of drop box and onto my mac.
Then I drug them to an external hard drive.
Now I find out I can't open the files on my external drive.

I get this message: ... is an online-only file. To open it, first move it into your dropbox folder.

I have not renewed my drop box

Can somebody please help my figure out what to do. I am scared I won't be able to open any of these files any more.

Thanks in advance

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Hannah

If they're available locally and you can open them as normal, yes.

They will of course get deleted from Dropbox, but you can move them to any location you prefer.

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Mark

When you were using them in Dropbox did you turn them back to local files BEFORE moving them out of Dropbox? That is what you need to do.

You may need to put them back in to Dropbox and see if you can redownload them to offline access.

dunlapjs

Thank you so much for the reply. I have renewed my subscription to make all of this easier for now, ad less stressful!

I am currently restoring my files.

Once this is completed I would like to do what you are explainging.

Can you describe the process more clearly? (Turn them into local files)

And then remove them?

Thanks for your help, I really appreciate it

Jay

Hi @dunlapjs, you can mark files and folders as available offline by following these steps.

dunlapjs

Thank you, for your help!

So my question, once I make the files available offline can I remove them from drop box and not loose them?

If so, how do I do this?

dunlapjs

Also, I have no idea if my drop box files are saved on my Mac or my external hard drive.

I want to be able to save all of my files on my external hard drive.

dunlapjs

To be very honest I don't have the money to spend to keep drop box. So I need to remove my files from drop box and save them to an external hard drive so I don't lose them. I need help...

Hannah

Hey @dunlapjs, thanks for your replies here.

So, once you make the files available offline and they are available on your computer, then you should be able to drag them out of the Dropbox folder again and you won't have the same issue.

The Dropbox application saves them to your Dropbox folder, which is on your internal drive, so that's where they should be now.

If the application is working correctly and syncing, once you drag them out, they should also be deleted from your Dropbox account.

I hope this helps!

dunlapjs

Wonderful! And so once I have them offline, and drag them out of drop box, I won't lose them?

(I had that scare just yesterday)

Hannah

If they're available locally and you can open them as normal, yes.

They will of course get deleted from Dropbox, but you can move them to any location you prefer.