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Dropbox backup - I never asked for it, but it busted my storage limit

Hi,

I've been using Dropbox Basic for about 10 years. About a year ago, to get more (free and EU-based) space, I signed up for pCloud, which also allowed me to back up Dropbox. All good, until recently I started getting limit warnings from DB. I moved files over to pCloud, where I still have plenty of space, but my DB storage tally didn't go down.

I discovered, by searching on the internet, that in fact DB backup was simultaneously backing up my pCloud files (!). Deleting the DB backup brought my storage tally right down to where it belonged.

My question is: DB backup is a paid service. I did not sign up for it or consent to it at any time. I wasn't even aware it existed. Having it working away in the background has caused a lot of confusion, with backups of backups of backups.

I regard my files on Dropbox as already backed up because they're on my hard drive as well as the cloud. What is the difference between files in regular Dropbox and files backed up by DB?

Having two cloud storage systems on the go at once is a recipe for disaster.

Thanks!

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Rich

@GlasgowJill wrote:
My question is: DB backup is a paid service.

It's not just a paid service. Yes, there is a paid plan called Dropbox Backup that allows unlimited space for the backup of a single computer. It's like a Basic account in that it includes 2GB of space for regular file syncing (the feature you're used to), but also includes unlimited space for the backup of your computer and a single external drive.

The Backup feature, which is available to all accounts including free Basic accounts, is different. The backup feature works in a similar fashion but it's still limited to the amount of space available within your account. If you have a Basic account with 2GB and the backup feature is used to back up 1GB of data, you'll have 1GB of space available for syncing your files.

I did not sign up for it or consent to it at any time.

The backup feature is available on all accounts. There's nothing to consent to, though you do need to enable it. It cannot enable itself. Either you enabled it manually in Preferences, or it was enabled during the installation process. It's very easy to miss the prompt during install asking if you want to enable it, especially if you just click click click through the install prompts.

I regard my files on Dropbox as already backed up because they're on my hard drive as well as the cloud.

Don't make that mistake. Yes, having files in both locations can be seen, sort of, as a backup, but in reality, it's not. Delete a file on your computer and it's deleted in the cloud. That's not a backup; that's file synchronization. Yes, you have some limited restore capabilities, but they pale when compared to an actual backup service.

The backup feature tries to narrow the gap between file synchronization and file backup. It's still lacking but is more closely related to a true backup than a file sync would be. Case in point, files backed up using the backup feature are stored separately from your regular files.

Having two cloud storage systems on the go at once is a recipe for disaster.

So true, especially if you're storing one service's sync folder within another, which many people try to so.

Jay

Hi @GlasgowJill, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

You can read up on what Dropbox Backup is from this article in our help center. Essentially, files are backed up to a separate section on the site, and the sync is one-way, from computer to site.

It is also available on our Basic free plan.

If you have any further queries, feel free to message back.

GlasgowJill

Thanks this clarification, Rich. There is a lot of confusion between backup and sync. In pCloud, backups ARE synced, and if you delete a backup, then the source files are also deleted. That's where I came unstuck. Thank goodness for the file restore function.

Nobody in pCloud has yet explained to me clearly the difference between their version of backup and sync, which seem effectively the same.

I had to pay for extra storage to enable file restore on pCloud, because I had so much duplication. I am keeping pCloud and Dropbox completely unlinked. Lesson learned!

Now I understand that DB backup is separate from file sync, I will cautiously enable the DB backup feature for the files I have in DB, if I have space.

Thanks again!

Jill

GlasgowJill

Thanks Jay.

I signed up for Dropbox Basic about ten years ago, and I've had no need to reinstall it since. All this time I've regarded Dropbox sync as a form of backup (thanks to Rich for the correction) and I don't recall a backup feature being added in (although I don't always read all my emails 🙂 )

Thanks for the clarification.

Jill

GlasgowJill

Hi Rich and Jay,

Here's a question for you both: how do I back up the files in my DB on top of having them synced? (So, two separate things, if I have understood correctly). The DB folder lives in the Users part of my c drive which is not including in the backup menu. I access files directly from the DB shortcut on my desktop.

Thanks!

Jay

You can have both services running at the same time. Dropbox Backup will run to keep those folders backed up on the site, as a one-way sync from computer to site.

The normal Dropbox syncing service has the files in the Dropbox folder, and they sync to and from the site, and from other devices as well.

GlasgowJill

Hi @Jay and @Rich ,

I'm still confused. I have my key working files in Dropbox, not in Documents. When I look at the Backup set up, I don't see how my synced files in Dropbox could also be included in the Backup. As I said before, the DB folder lives in the Users part of my c drive, which is not included in the Backup menu.

Thanks!

-Jill

Jay

Could you attach a screenshot showing what you're describing in order to understand this in more detail?

GlasgowJill

Hello,

I have my key files sitting in Dropbox and I access them via the Dropbox folder on the desktop. They are synced but not backed up, as I now understand it.

These files are also on my c drive, in a Users Dropbox subfolder. (When I first signed up for DB, part of the appeal was that files were kept on your hard drive as well as 'out there' in the cloud, which was kind of abstract back in 2015.)

According to the options offered in the Backup dialogue, only selected parts of the C drive can be backed up. The Users folders are not included.

So it seems that if I have files stored and synced in Dropbox, they can't also be included in the Dropbox back up. I'd have to move them out of Dropbox and into the relevant c drive folder, i.e. Documents, Pictures, Music or Videos, and only then could they benefit from the one-way cloud backup.

Am I understanding all this correctly? The distinction between syncing and backup seems to vary between cloud providers.

thanks!

Jay

Thanks for the clarification. This is correct, the normal syncing process is completely separate to the Dropbox Backup feature.

If you want to use Dropbox Backup, then you'll need to enable it and the folders would then move into the Dropbox folder, depending on which version of Dropbox Backup you're using.

This article contains more information on how the service works.