Child Item

How can I download a large folder to my external usb stick?

Device
Macbook Air M2, 2022
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)
(macOS Tahoe Version 26.3)
Dropbox App Version
(243.3.6860)

Question or Issue

If anyone can hop on a video call and help me download large 'camera uploads' folder (96GB), 26K mostly images/some videos to external usb stick I'll happily transfer $20!

First formatted external hard drive to exFAT but tediously slow having to download files as zip in download folder only and then copy to external hard drive. Tried to set up as APFS with no luck. Getting all sorts of error messages every different workaround I try. If anyone could walk me through it via video call I would really appreciate it. Other folders are no issue to copy/transfer.

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Comments

Hannah

Hey @dublindude, thanks for reaching out to the Dropbox Community today!

Although we can't hop on a video call, let's see how we can make this work.

I'm assuming that you're trying to download the camera uploads folder from your account through a browser right?

The issue here is, that while you can download large size folders from the site (up to 250 GB), there's a file limit of 10.000 files.

So, technically, you'd need to download them in batches.

From the info you provided, though, I can understand that you have the Dropbox desktop app installed.

If you make sure all your camera uploads files are available offline in your Dropbox folder, you can just copy it from there to your USB stick; have you attempted that?

Keep me posted!

dublindude

Hi Hannah,

I've tried using my 'camera uploads' both from the Dropbox app and also downloading just from the browser. Unfortunately, neither are successful and I've ran into multiple issues with both. When downloading in batches it's telling me it's going to take days and then some of the files are blank, damaged or just not showing up on the usb stick. (WiFi Speed tests are good.)

When I try to download directly to the USB stick folder I get some error message to say that zip files are not compatible.

It's strange because all the other DropBox files/folders I have been able to copy easily using Finder to my USB stick.

Very confusing and I have looked online and tried troubleshooting but maybe I am missing something hence why I was hoping somebody could walk me through it.

I even contacted a local IT company but they couldn't help and weren't able to direct me.

Dublindude

Nancy

Hey @dublindude, when saying that you’re having issues while downloading the files in batches, are you referring to the Dropbox website or the desktop app?

Can you send me a screenshot of what you see exactly on your end?

Rich

dublindude wrote:
How can I download a large folder to my external usb stick?

If you're not using the Dropbox app and syncing files to your local drive, your options are the website where you'd have to download in batches, as you've discovered, or you can use a third-part utility.

You can use a utility such as Cyberduck to browse files in your Dropbox account and download them directly to your external drive. There are other apps as well (MountainDuck and CloudMounter for mapping a drive, dbxcli for a terminal interface, etc.).

Using Cyberduck as the example, you would open the application, start a new connection to your Dropbox account (which takes you to the Dropbox site to authorize the application) and then it will display the content of your account. From there you can right-click on a file or folder and select Download To. You'll get a prompt asking for a location to download the files to and you're off and running.

Just know that 96GB is going to take a while to download, even on a fast connection. That's a lot of data.

dublindude

I selected the folder in question (Camera Uploads) to be available offline which I believe is offline however, when I try to move or copy the files using dropbox application to my USB stick, I am getting incredibly long wait times. For example, in the screenshot it says six hours for 10GB (a few thousand media mostly jpeg and some mp4), but actually from the previous batch transfer it seems to be taking even twice as long. Also I am lucky if the media is saved successfully and not blank or corrupted files.

Hannah

Thanks for the update, @dublindude.

Hopefully the process will be complete soon, but if you come across any issues or errors, let us know.

dublindude

So I just waited 10 hours for a batch of photos to transfer and it said they were completed but now my USB stick is not showing them. Actually now my USB stick is not even showing as an external drive on my computer. I bought a new small usb stick online - local shopping platform - I'm located in Thailand (1TB capacity, branded Samsung, approx $10) but I am beginning to believe that this USB stick is to blame. I am using the USB-C connection as my model MacBook does not have regular USB. Is this a common issue with the quality of the USB stick - that it could affect the transfer of the files and folders?