#Dropbox for mac how to
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Last year, we decided we wanted to do the same for macOS. This project took a while to finish since Omaha is also an installer/meta-installer and we had to rework several of our installation flows to make it all work well.

#Dropbox for mac update

Since Omaha is an out-of-process updater, if we shipped a completely broken client we could still update it.

#Dropbox for mac windows

So we decided it was time to move our auto-update mechanism out of the main app.īack in 2014, we accomplished this on Windows by taking Google’s Omaha project and adapting it to our needs. Eliminating these potential failures was crucial to maintain continuity of Dropbox’s value to its users. More importantly, it also meant that small bugs in other parts of the client could affect auto-update. This meant that the client had to be running in order to update itself.

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Basically, as part of regular file syncing, the server can send down an entry in the metadata that says, “Please update to version X with checksum Y.” The client would then download the file, verify the checksum, open the payload, replace the files on disk, restart the app and boom! It would be running version X. Our auto-update system, as originally designed, was written as a feature of the desktop client. It allows our developers to rapidly innovate, showcase new features to our users, maintain compatibility with server endpoints, and mitigate risk of incompatibilities that may creep in with platform/OS changes.

If the external drive is disconnected from the computer while Dropbox is running, there’s a small-but real-chance that the app will start deleting files before realizing that the entire drive has been removed.Keeping users on the latest version of the Dropbox desktop app is critical.

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If that happened, you’d want to pick “Quit,” plug in the drive that contains your Dropbox data, and then either reboot your Mac or relaunch the program from your Applications folder.įinally, there is one more big stinking worry about storing Dropbox files on an external drive.

If you eject the drive, Dropbox will give you a scary warning when it tries to access the folder:

However, Dropbox doesn’t really recommend doing this anyway, as it means you have to keep that drive plugged in at all times when the program is running. You can only use certain types of storage media, though, and if a device you’ve plugged in won’t work, the app will tell you that it can’t move your folder. First of all, you could theoretically save space by using this to store your Dropbox files on an external drive you’d do that by picking a connected disk from Finder in step four above. There are a few notes and caveats here, though. Now, if you read the boxes in my screenshots above, you’ll note that this is a move, not a copy your Dropbox folder will be removed from its original location and added to the new one, and all of its original sharing settings should still be intact. Navigate to the desired location, click Select, and then click Move to confirm. Your Mac will then bring up the familiar file-picker box, from which you can choose where you’d like to move your folder.Click on the Dropbox folder location drop-down menu and choose Other.When the Preferences window opens, select the Sync tab.Click on Dropbox’s menu bar icon as I mentioned above, then pick the small gear you’ll find there and choose Preferences.If you’d like to change the location of your Dropbox folder, though, how do you go about it? Well, you can’t just go around moving the folder all willy-nilly, so these are the steps you’ll follow if you want to change your Dropbox folder location! Change Dropbox Folder Location in macOS If you use the Dropbox app, you probably know that its files are, by default, stored on the Mac in what’s called your Home folder, and a shortcut to your Dropbox is usually added to the sidebar of the Finder.Īlternatively, of course, you can access your synced Dropbox files by selecting the program’s menu bar icon at the top of your screen and clicking the folder icon. Which is high praise from me considering how much I have to troubleshoot issues from pretty much every other service and app on the planet. In fact, I can’t recall the last time I had to troubleshoot any big issues with it for either myself or my clients. Years! And I appreciate not just its ease of use but how consistent and stable its app is on the Mac. I’ve been using Dropbox-a file-sharing, storage, and syncing service-for a really long time now.

#Dropbox for mac how to

How to Change the Dropbox Folder Location on the Mac