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Can I restore my old Dropbox backup set up after my computer repair?

Hi,

I have had to recently restore my Macbook completely (it was repaired and the OS re-installed). I had my Dropbox connected to my MBP and backing up the Documents, Download and Desktop (from now on refered as DDD) folder. Before the restore, the path to these folders was inside my Dropbox folder. Something like:

/Users/myname/Dropbox/Mac/Documents/...

I re-installed Dropbox on my Mac after the repair and asked Dropbox to do a Backup again and restore the DDD folders from the Backup on Dropbox. All finished syncing and now I have two "Mac" folders inside my Dropbox, which I think is expected (the previous Backup before repair, and the new Backup after repair). However, I also still have the DDD folders in their usual locations:

/Users/myname/Documents/

/Users/myname/Desktop/

/Users/myname/Downloads/

So, when I access my Documents in Finder, I am still working inside /Users/myname/Documents/ and not /Users/myname/Dropbox/Mac/Documents/. This means that I don't have the "Copy link" option in Finder when accessing files in the Documents.

Is there something I need to do now to complete the set up of moving the DDD folders inside the Dropbox and just have that be the default? I feel like I have done this restore in the past and it was automatic.

Thank you,
Mafalda

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Comments

Hannah

Hey @amsf, thanks for reaching out to our Community.

Let's see what we can find out about this.

Do you currently have any other Dropbox options when right-clicking on files in your /Users/myname/Documents/ etc. folders?

Are you able to see this backup here?

Let me know and we'll go from there.

Nancy

Hey @amsf! I wanted to chime in and see if you still need help here.

Let us know.

Muhammad Junaid

Yes, you can restore your old Dropbox backup setup. To make your Desktop, Documents, and Downloads folders sync again with Dropbox, open the Dropbox app → Preferences → Backups → Manage Backup. Then, select your DDD folders and turn on “Back up these folders.” Dropbox will move them back inside your Dropbox folder (e.g., /Users/myname/Dropbox/Mac/Documents/) and re-enable features like “Copy Dropbox Link” in Finder.