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Main Mac folders moved to Dropbox and I can’t get them back

At some point in time my main Mac folders under my username - Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Pictures, Movies, etc. were moved to Dropbox with a link to them on my

Mac. I can’t seem to be able to move them back to my Mac. I recently tried a trial upgrade to the business version but decided I didn’t need it and went back to my basic version. Since then, syncing and access seems to be having problems. I can’t access most of my files from my Mac and get access errors. Thinking all of this may be tied to the trial version that I decided to stop.

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Comments

Walter

Hey @pfarr - sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

It sounds like you enabled the Dropbox Backup feature at some point in the past. Do you see those folders in your backups page online?

Also, is the Dropbox desktop app installed and running on your computer at the moment?

Let us know more and we'll take it from there.

pfarr

Walter,

yes, I had Dropbox Backup turned on. On Dropbox, there is a folder named “Mac” with the following folders in it - Desktop, Documents, Downloads, Movies, Music. My Mac username folder as hosted on Dropbox instead of the Mac.

i turned off Dropbox Backup last night (sorry, hadn’t heard from anyone and thought this might be the cause) and now my username folder is back on the Mac, but the Desktop and Documents folders were empty and the remaining folders are still hosted in the Dropbox Mac folder. I was able to copy the contents of the Desktop and Documents folder on Dropbox back to the Mac folders. The remaining folders all have little arrows in the bottom left hand corner of them still linked to Dropbox.

Megan

Hey @pfarr, when you say that the remaining folders have arrows on the bottom left, are we talking about the ones within your Dropbox folder?

Would you be able to send me a few screenshots of this?

It sounds like everything is now back on track based on what you mentioned, I just want to make sure of that.

pfarr

Megan,

Not quite done...

As you can see from the screen shot....my "patfarr" user folder is on my Mac, but the Downloads, Music and Movies folders are still hosted on Dropbox. The little arrows in the lower left of the folder icon shows this. The Desktop and Documents folder are back under the "patfarr" user folder.

How do I get the remaining folders on my Mac and not on Dropbox?

pfarr

This is a better screen shot... Image 3-25-24 at 7.02 PM.jpg

Jay

Hi @pfarr. thanks for the details, could you contact the support team directly for them to assist further?

pfarr

Will do so in the morning…thanks