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Had to reformat hard drive and reload new MacOS and data, now I have 2 Dropboxs on my hard drive

I am a Dropbox Plus user running a MacBook Pro, with Sonoma 14.5

Last Sunday, 06/09/24, I experienced problems with my MacBook. Working with Apple Support, they tried to reload a new copy of the OS, but it didn't resolve the issue. Since I had a recent Time Machine backup, their advice was to reformat my hard drive, reload a new OS Sonoma and use the Time Machine backup to reload my data. During this process, I must have renamed by hard drive with a new name. Got a message from Dropbox that I didn't fully understand, answered it and proceeded with the install of my data.

When my system was back up and running, I noticed that Dropbox has moved from the bottom of my Finder Sidebar View to the top,
I started to work with some files yesterday and noticed that there was only a copy of the file on Dropbox. I had been keeping a local copy also, since I work many times without being connected to the Internet. I decided to mark all the folders that I wanted to work with at that time as "Make Available Offline".
I still need to research how to set Dropbox to keep files in both places
When I started to compare some files, I found that I had 2 copies of Dropbox installed on my system, which I assume happened when I was doing the re-install. They are located in the following locations:
1. UserName/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox (6-9-24 6/02pm)/file folder name/file
2. UserName/Dropbox/file folder name/file
I know these duplicate locations came from my re-install, but I truly don't understand how to fix this mess.
1. How do I tell which is the file location that Dropbox is currently connected to? I have been accessing Dropbox from its new location at the top of my Finder Side View window.
2. Once I know that, can I just delete the one that a duplicate?

Dropbox is very important in the way I use it, but when it breaks, I have a difficult time understanding how to resolve my issue.

Any assistance would be greatly appreciated !!

John

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Comments

Jay

Hi @jdmstl23, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

For Mac OS, there are two method for Dropbox to sync files, one using the old method, and the newer File Provider. The locations you're describing refer to both of them.

In order to determine which one is active, can you see any sync icons in those folders? You can also see the Dropbox folder from within the Dropbox desktop application preference using these steps.

Keep me posted!

jdmstl23

Hi Jay:

Thanks for getting back with me. As for my Dropbox desktop version, I think it is v201.4.5552 and I am at Sonoma 14.5 on my Mac. I found this version of Dropbox under Preferences/General. It was at the bottom of the screen on the right. Under Notifications, I say that Dropbox on MacOS on File Provider is now ready. I have not clicked on the "Get Started" option on that dropdown screen.

As far as the status of the 2 Dropbox locations on my MacBook:

Mac HD/Users/[removed]/Dropbox -- This one appears to being updated with Dropbox, there are sync icons showing. It is the one that I manually turned on having files online and offline. I have also made some minor file name changes... these appear both in the online and offline copies

Mac HD/Users/[removed]/Library/CloudStorage/Dropbox (6-9-24 6/02PM) -- There are NO icons showing. Also the minor file name changes I made are not in this copy of Dropbox.

So let me know what my next steps should be. I am anxious to get back to normal, since I depend on Dropbox to help be track research that we have done.

Again, thanks for the help !!

John

Hannah

Hey @jdmstl23, would it be possible to send us a couple of screenshots so we can compare the two Dropbox folders?

Make sure to edit out any sensitive info on the screenshots, before uploading them to your next reply.

jdmstl23

I am attaching the 2 screen shots. The first 2 files on each of the screen shots are files that I added the letters (SLCL) at the end of the file name. The first one that show sync icons is also updated on Dropbox in the cloud. The other one is under the folder CloudStorage and does not reflect the update made and also there are no sync icons.

Also took a screen shot of Dropbox.com with those 2 files, showing the (SLCL) that was added at the end of the file names.

Is this what you wanted?

John Screenshot 2024-06-17 at 5.54.23 PM.jpg Screenshot 2024-06-17 at 5.46.29 PM.jpg Screenshot 2024-06-17 at 5.42.51 PM.jpg

jdmstl23

Do you need anything further from me? I was in the middle of trying to bring some Excel spreadsheets up to date on my research status, when all this happened last week when Apple Support told me my laptop had to be reloaded in order to fix my problem. Don't want to start this effort back up again until Dropbox issue with the 2 copies of Dropbox is resolved.

Thanks,

John

Hannah

Hey John, I appreciate the screenshots and the additional info.

Can you please send me one more screenshot of the "sync" tab in your Dropbox preferences, so we can confirm the location of the syncing Dropbox folder?

Just make sure to hide the actual username in the path.

jdmstl23

I have not upgraded to File Provider.

Screenshot 2024-06-18 at 6.01.14 PM.png

Hannah

Thanks, @jdmstl23!

So, all evidence indicates that your actual Dropbox folder is the one in Users/Username/Dropbox.

The other folder appears to be just a copy created probably when you restored your hard drive from the time machine backup, so you don't need that one.

Just keep in mind, that if you made any changes to your files in the "Dropbox (6-9-24 6/02pm)" folder, those won't sync to your account, so you'll need to copy/move them to your actual Dropbox folder.

jdmstl23

I read thru your response. I am sure the Dropbox shown in the screenshot is the one being updated by Dropbox, so I will delete the other one. I started reading about if I should upgrade to Dropbox for macOS on File Provider. I ran across a document talking about what to expect when you upgrade to File Provider. One of the items they mentioned was "Your Dropbox folder will be moved to ~/Library/CloudStorage". That is the name and location of the other Dropbox that is on my laptop. This must have been something that Dropbox created, not TimeMachine. I have not upgraded to File Provider, but somehow that got created.

So I assume it is OK to delete that one? It has not being updated from Dropbox, just wanted to let you know.

From what I read, I don't have to upgrade to File Provider right away, but once things have settled down, I will do the upgrade.

Thanks,

John

Nancy

Hey John! Hope you don’t mind if I jump in.

Since the Dropbox folder under ~/Library/CloudStorage doesn’t seem to be currently syncing to your online account, you can go ahead and delete it indeed.

However, as Hannah mentioned above, you’ll need to double check if you updated any files within it after reinstalling the Dropbox app and transfer/copy them over to the folder that’s actually syncing before deleting the one under ~/Library/CloudStorage. You won’t lose anything this way.

jdmstl23

Thanks to all that helped. I did check that copy, no updates had been made, so I deleted it. As I mentioned to Hannah, I need to upgrade to the new File Provider in the near future. This certainly was a learning experience for me. I have been a Dropbox user for a number of years, but it was working great, so I wasn't keeping up with changes that were happening. Once I was having an issue, I had to start reading many articles in the Help area and discovered many new things about Dropbox.

Again thanks to all that contributed. It was much appreciated.

John