Backup Dropbox folder into iCloud.com

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DL8888 Author

Level 1

14 points

Backup Dropbox folder into iCloud.com

I have a big Dropbox folder on my MacBook Pro.

It's located in:

Macintosh ID > Users > 'my user' > Dropbox > .....

Since this folder is not located in 'Documents' it's not synced to iCloud.com.

I've seen that in iCloud.com I can select a specific file to upload but I cannot select a specific folder to sync.

I've also seen I could open 'finder', locate the folder I want to sync (in my case the folder Dropbox) then drag it on the left side over iCloud Drive.

unfortunately this would change the location of my Dropbox folder, from 'Macintosh ID > Users > 'my user' > Dropbox' to iCloud Drive folder.

This is something I don't want.

Is there a solution to my problem?

I know I could zip the whole Dropbox folder then copy it into iCloud.com but I am looking for a real-time sync, not just once.

Thanks

MacBook Pro 15″, macOS 12.7

Posted on Jan 12, 2024 8:08 AM

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Answer 1

Jan 13, 2024 8:26 AM in response to DL8888

It is generally not a good idea to keep a cloud syncing folder inside another cloud service. If you want multiple copies of the same files/ folders in different cloud locations, you can use a file syncing software that would keep two folders in sync with each other locally. In this case, it would do a one way sync from your Dropbox folder to your iCloud folder. The problem with this method is that you'll have two copies of the same files/ folders stored locally. If space is not a constraint, then this should work for you.

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Answer 2

DL8888 Author

Level 1

14 points

Jan 13, 2024 9:35 AM in response to Sridhar Ananthanarayanan

Thanks.

May I ask why it's not a good idea to keep a cloud syncing folder inside another cloud service?

Just for info.

So far I had my DROPBOX folder synced with TRESORIT (basically Dropbox is inside Tresorit folder) and I set Dropbox to be stored locally on my Mac, and Tresorit stored only in the cloud, so in this way I don't have both copies locally which it's definitely a space issue (almost 2TB).

Basically I wanted to do a third copy on iCloud (not stored locally as well) because I could reach all my file easily from iPhone or iPad and a 3rd copy would be better then 2

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Answer 3

Jan 13, 2024 10:05 AM in response to DL8888

I tried this once by keeping my Google Drive folder inside my OneDrive folder. I found the two sync services would keep trying to sync far too often than they would otherwise, i.e. the sync wouldn't complete properly. This was probably due to some conflicts or because every minute changes made by Google Drive would be replicated by OneDrive, and those were completely unnecessary as these are not user files.

Why don't you install the official apps on all your devices and just use them instead? I use a Browser to access my iCloud files when I'm on Android. For everything else, I simply use the official apps for each service.

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Backup Dropbox folder into iCloud.com

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