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Get your Dropbox files on a new laptop, hassle free

3 min read

Jan 2, 2025

Dropbox UI displaying organized folders for cloud storage, with a cursor selecting one folder, symbolizing easy file access.

Before you buy a new laptop

First things first: Before you can move files onto your new computer, be sure your old computer is already backed up to the cloud with Dropbox Backup. 

If you haven’t already done it, just follow these simple steps:

  1. Open the Dropbox desktop app (or install it if you haven’t already), and make sure you're connected to the internet. 
  2. In your menu bar, click the Dropbox icon, and then click on your avatar. Open Preferences, click on the Backups tab, and click Set up.
  3. Under Add a backup, select the computer you’d like to back up, and follow the prompts.  
  4. Take a break. Hang out. Grab a coffee. Let Dropbox back up your device, and continue doing so automatically going forward, while you go about your life.

Set up automatic backups for your peace of mind

Secure your files and recover any version effortlessly with Dropbox Backup. Stay prepared, no matter what happens.

After your new computer arrives

Okay, so you're backed up to the cloud. How do you get your files back into your new computer? 

That's simple and fast, too. Install the Dropbox desktop app on your new computer, log in, confirm you want to put your backup files on the computer, then choose the files to back up. (Again, on a new computer, this will likely be everything in your backup.) Voila, new computer, same folders and files in the same place.

And Backup acts as an automated safety net going forward, too. It will continue to back up new or changed files and folders, keeping the most up-to-date version of your computer in the cloud. Should something happen—you spill coffee, you drop your computer, you lose it—file recovery is a cinch. (We hope you don't need a new new computer, but life comes at you fast sometimes.)

Two people sit together at a kitchen table with a new laptop, trying to figure out how to move their files to the new device.

Keep your files safe and your mind at ease with Dropbox Backup

Rather than worrying about losing photos, videos, and important files, you should be able to focus on what matters: Acing that test, nailing that presentation, and keeping your digital life safe.

So whether you follow the 3-2-1 backup strategy, or are just convinced that trusty old hard drive will survive through an apocalypse, there’s never any harm in backing up your files. Just in case.

Try Dropbox Backup today

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