Moving the Dropbox desktop folder to a new location

You can move your Dropbox folder to any location on your hard drive or external hard drive using the Dropbox desktop app.

If you decide to move the folder, we recommend choosing a location on the same hard drive as your operating system. Dropbox won't work correctly if the Dropbox folder becomes inaccessible, which can happen if it's located on an external drive that gets disconnected.

Note: You can also move your Dropbox folder back to its default location. To learn how, scroll to the bottom of this article.

Network or non-default file systems

• Dropbox is not compatible with network file systems.
• Network file systems do not send messages when files change. When Dropbox first starts it does a deep file scan, detects changes, and syncs them. However, Dropbox usually waits for "file update events," and only physically connected drives send these events.
• Moving the Dropbox folder to a drive with a non-default file system for the operating system may cause unexpected behavior.
• These file systems may have limitations outside of what Dropbox can control, including limits on file size, file type, or others.

Take these potential issues into consideration when choosing a new location for Dropbox. Consult resources for your operating system if you have further questions.

Click your operating system for instructions:

A note on renaming: Your Dropbox folder will keep the same name as before, and can't be changed by using the move feature. Dropbox will not sync your Dropbox folder if it has been manually renamed or moved through your operating system. If Dropbox loses track of your Dropbox folder, it will attempt to re-sync the folder in its entirety using its last known location.

Learn more

If you want to put your Dropbox folder on an external drive, proceed with caution:

• The Dropbox folder must be available when your computer boots and before the Dropbox desktop app starts. Some USB drives, for example, take some time to mount before your computer recognizes them. The Dropbox desktop app could start before such a drive is ready and get confused. You'll receive an error and Dropbox will give you the opportunity to relink your Dropbox account or exit if it is unable to find your Dropbox folder.
• If the external drive is disconnected from the computer while Dropbox is running, there's a small chance that the app will start deleting files before realizing that the entire drive has been removed. Be extremely careful if using an external drive for your Dropbox folder.