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I enabled computer backup on my new Win11 device, but Dropbox is stuck indexing.

I am having trouble with Dropbox on a new Windows 11 PC. It is a bit confusing so bare with me...

I used a program called "PC Mover" by Laplink to do transfer my old Win10 PC to a new Win11 PC - it transfers data as well as OS settings and apps. It went very well (I have done this dozens of times) but the one thing that is not working well is Dropbox.

On the old Win10 PC, my user folders were re-directed into Dropbox so they would be viewable from other devices. I did not use the "Back up" feature on the old PC, instead I told Windows to redirect those folders into my Dropbox folder.

PC Mover does not transfer redirected user folders, so I figured I would have to redirect the new, empty, user folders on the new PC to the synched user folders in Dropbox. I have done this successfully with OneDrive many times. However, after the PC Mover transfer was complete, the Dropbox folder on the new PC did not show the old PC's user folders! I thought maybe this was by design? Anyways, I had to then manually copy those folders over from the old PC to the default user folders on the new PC.

Thinking there might be a conflict if I redirected my new user folders into Dropbox (surely the old user folders are still there but just invisible now?), I decided to turn on the Back Up feature in Dropbox to redirect these folders. My user folders now appear in Dropbox but within a folder named "PC 4".

However - new items that I put in Dropbox (both in user folders and at root level of Dropbox) do NOT seem to be synching to the cloud, they do not show up on the old PC, and the new PC dropbox has been saying "indexing" for over 24 hours now. I uninstalled and reinstalled dropbox but same thing. New items that I put in the old PC dropbox doe not show up in the New PC dropbox but they do show up on the web.

I am confused and not sure how to resolve this! Any advice would be appreciated.

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Comments

Nancy

Hey Shmaltrino! Thanks for posting on our forum.

So, to clarify, you enabled Dropbox’s computer backup on your new device, which is now called “PC 4”, but you were unable to see the main computer folders of your old device. Does this sound correct?

If yes, did copying them over from your old device seem to help, or you still can't see them at all on your new computer?

As for the syncing issue you’re facing on the new device, did you restart your computer and the Dropbox app is still stuck indexing?

Finally, I’d like you to right-click on your local Dropbox folder, go to its Properties and send me a screenshot of the next window you’ll see.

Keep me in the loop for more info.

Shmaltrino

Thank you, Nancy, for responding. You are correct in your understanding of the problem.

Copying the desktop, document, pictures folders from the old computer (they were merely at the root level e.g. Dropbox>Desktop, Dropbox>Documents, Dropbox>Pictures) to the new computer and moving the contents to the default user folders on the new PC accomplished that goal. Then, I turned on Dropbox Backup in the new PC, which moved those folders into Dropbox on the new computer and put them in a folder named "PC 4".

I still can not see the user folders from the old PC in Dropbox on the new computer (same account) but I can see them in the Dropbox website. I have reinstalled Dropbox on new PC, and restarted the PC, to no avail. Putting a new document into dropbox on the old PC shows up on the website but not on the new PC. The old PC sees the folder named PC 4 but does not see the contents within. New items added to dropbox on new PC do not show up on the website.

My preference would be to not use the "backup" feature, but to just relocate these user folders to Dropbox (via the Location tab in Properties for each folder). But I am afraid to do that because I do not know how it will affect the user folders on the old PC, which I do not want to disturb. Initially, I thought I could do this and merge the then empty user folders on new PC with the old PC folders, so that they would be mirrored or synched between the computers.

I am not at my computer now but I will upload a screenshot when I get back home.

If I do continue with the backup feature, is there any way to rename the backup to something other than "PC 4"?

Jay

Hi @Shmaltrino, thanks for the details.

Are the user folders appearing on the normal Dropbox site, or on the Dropbox Backup page here?

Do you see all your connected devices on this page as well, to ensure that the new device is linked successfully?

Shmaltrino

Update... I think dropbox is now in sync. Maybe it just needed a few restarts, or enough time to finish indexing the new PC. I think it is good for now, but in the future I will probably want to turn OFF the backup feature, and instead move the user folders into the root level of dropbox. Is there a problem with doing that (using the "location" tab in folder properties to relocate user folders to dropbox)? This would make it easier to find these folders on an iPhone & iPad.

Jay

Personally, we wouldn't recommend moving the system folders that way, as it could lead to unexpected events such as permission issues, corruption or data deletion.

If you were to move the folders that way, it would be at your own risk since this isn't officially supported by Dropbox.

Shmaltrino

OK, I understand. Thank you, Jay.