Syncing issues between my Dell XPS17 laptop and my mobile and tablet devices

Question

Hi,

This is the first time I’m posting and really need some help please regarding synching issues between my Dell XPS17 and my smartphone, Samsung Galaxy. The problem is that the entire Dell XPS17 backup does not show up anywhere in my mobile Dropbox app....so since the Dell XPS17 backup does not appear on any of the mobile Dropbox apps.... I am completely unable to access any of the files of my laptop backup (using Dropbox Backup desktop app) on any of my mobile devices. And I need to be able to access all the files backed up on Dell XPS17 on my mobile apps (i.e. phone and tablet) so I can continue to do all my work when I am not in front of my desk. So I need everything from Dell XPS17 (that is backed up on Dropbox desktop app and Dropbox Backup desktop app) to sync with my Dropbox account (so I can access that backup on my phone and tablet when I use Dropbox to access the files on my pc (which is called Dell XPS17) when I use Dropbox mobile app on my phone. So it might be some sort of sync issue where Dropbox Backup properly syncs everything on my PC (aka Dell XPS17) but does not sync properly so that when I use Dropbox mobile app I cannot access Dell XPS17 files at all on my mobile device. Thank you for anyone that can please point me in the right direction or provide any help.

Rich · Accepted Answer

@shad3 wrote:The problem is that the entire Dell XPS17 backup does not show up anywhere in my mobile Dropbox app....

If you're referring to the Dropbox Backup feature, it's not supposed to show up in the mobile app anymore. The new backup feature is only accessible via the Backups page on Dropbox.com.

so since the Dell XPS17 backup does not appear on any of the mobile Dropbox apps.... I am completely unable to access any of the files of my laptop backup ...

The old backup method wasn't really a backup. It was a sync. It MOVED your key folders into the Dropbox folder so they could sync. Since the files were in your Dropbox folder, they were accessible from the mobile app and the main Dropbox website.

The new backup feature no longer works like that and is closer to a true backup, keeping your backup isolated from your normal files. If something goes wrong with your storage, you don't want your backups affected. You also shouldn't be accessing backups. They're BACKUPS, meant for disaster recovery, not regular files that you should be accessing like regular files.

So I need everything from Dell XPS17 (that is backed up on Dropbox desktop app and Dropbox Backup desktop app) to sync with my Dropbox account (so I can access that backup on my phone and tablet

Don't use the backup feature for this. Instead, just move those files into the Dropbox folder. If you're on Windows, which you likely are with a Dell, you can use the feature within your OS to move key folders like your Desktop, Documents, etc., into the Dropbox folder so they sync. That's essentially all that the old backup feature did.

So it might be some sort of sync issue ...

No issue or problem. It's working as intended. You can either use the Backups page to access your backups, or you can move the files into the Dropbox folder so they sync normally.