Child Item

I'm unable to move my Mac Desktop folder to Dropbox.

Device

(iMac)
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)

Big Sur 11.7.10
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)

243.4.6956
Dropbox Plan

Plus

Question or Issue

I am trying to make my Mac Desktop accessible on other devices. When I move my Desktop folder into Dropbox, the original Desktop Folder remains in its original location. If I add a file to the Desktop, it goes into the original Desktop Folder and not into the Desktop Folder that I have moved into Dropbox. If I try to delete the original Desktop Folder, it cannot be deleted.

Find more posts tagged with

Desktop

Sync

Mac

Comments

Rich

kavalier wrote:
When I move my Desktop folder into Dropbox, the original Desktop Folder remains in its original location.

A Mac user can jump in if I'm wrong, but I didn't think macOS allowed the Desktop folder to be moved anymore. I know for certain that you can't simply drag and drop it to a new location. That would just result in a copy of the folder and the OS would continue to use the original, like you experienced.

You can use the Backup feature to have Dropbox back up your Desktop folder, but it wouldn't be accessible on other devices in the same way all your other files in Dropbox would be. Backups are stored in a special location, only accessible through the Backups page.