Dropbox folder to new laptop

Question

Hello,

I have purchased a new laptop and I want to transfer all data in the dropbox folder from my old laptop to the new laptop.

I can unlink my dropbox account on my old laptop and then log in on the new laptop. The files are then synchronized again.

But this process takes days. Can this be done in another way?

Can I move the dropbox folder from my old laptop to an external hard drive and then move the dropbox folder from the external hard drive to the new laptop?

What happens next if I link the dropbox app to the dropbox folder? Will everything still be synchronized again?

Walter · Answer

Hey there @jeroenws, thanks for posting on our Community and happy Monday!

Since you wish to re-install the Dropbox software and you do not want to re-download all of your files from the server, you need to choose the "Advanced" setup option during the installation process.

Then you need to choose the parent folder of the existing Dropbox folder as the location for this new install.

For example, if your old Dropbox folder was added to: C:\Desktop\Dropbox you would need to choose C:\Desktop and the client will try and create a new Dropbox folder.

If you're connecting with the same Dropbox account as before, Dropbox will detect the existing folder and will then prompt you to merge the Dropbox folder.

Upon merging the desktop version of Dropbox will check the existing files and the server versions and update accordingly.

Please do note that any changes made to the files in the Dropbox folder or on the web interface while the folder was "offline" will generate conflicted copies.

I hope this helps!