How to move your Dropbox folder to another drive

You can move your Dropbox folder from one drive to another without losing your files or breaking your sync. The process takes about five minutes and involves pausing Dropbox, moving the folder physically, then telling Dropbox where to find it. The key is doing these steps in the right order — if you move the folder without pausing Dropbox first, the app may create a new empty folder on the original drive and confuse your file locations.

This matters most when your main drive is running out of space, or when you want to keep Dropbox on a faster external drive. The move itself doesn't change how Dropbox works — your files stay synced across your devices, and you can still access them from any computer or phone linked to your account.

Key Takeaways

  • Pause Dropbox from the menu bar or system tray before you move the folder, or the app will create a duplicate folder on your original drive.
  • Move the entire Dropbox folder (not individual files inside it) to your new drive using your computer's file manager or Finder.
  • Open Dropbox preferences after the move and point the app to the new location using the "Change location" option.
  • Let Dropbox index the folder completely before you open files or make changes — this can take several minutes to several hours depending on how many files you have.
  • Your phone and tablet apps will continue to work normally; they sync with the cloud, not directly with your hard drive.

Step 1: Pause Dropbox before moving anything

Open the Dropbox app on your computer. On Mac, click the Dropbox icon in the menu bar at the top right of your screen. On Windows, right-click the Dropbox icon in the system tray at the bottom right. Select "Pause syncing" from the menu that appears.

Dropbox will ask you how long to pause — choose "Until I turn it back on" rather than a time limit. This keeps the app from restarting sync while you're moving files. You should see a pause icon next to the Dropbox menu, confirming it's paused.

Step 2: Locate and move your current Dropbox folder

On Mac, open Finder and look in your home folder (the one with your username). You'll see a folder named "Dropbox" — this is your entire synced folder. On Windows, open File Explorer and navigate to your user folder (usually C:\Users\YourName). The Dropbox folder is there.

Right-click the Dropbox folder and select "Cut" (or use Ctrl+X on Windows, Command+X on Mac). Navigate to your new drive — this might be an external hard drive, a second internal drive, or a USB drive. Right-click in the empty space and select "Paste" to move the folder. This can take several minutes if you have many files; don't close the window or unplug the drive while it's moving.

Step 3: Tell Dropbox where your folder moved

Once the move is complete, open the Dropbox app again. On Mac, click the menu bar icon and select "Preferences." On Windows, right-click the system tray icon and select "Preferences." Go to the "Sync" tab (Mac) or "Account" tab (Windows).

Look for a button or link that says "Change location" or "Move Dropbox folder." Click it and navigate to the new location of your Dropbox folder on your new drive. Select the folder and confirm. Dropbox will now point to this new location.

Step 4: Resume syncing and wait for indexing

Click "Resume syncing" from the Dropbox menu. The app will begin reading through all your files in their new location — this is called indexing. You'll see a progress indicator showing how many files have been indexed. Don't open or edit files during this time, and don't close the Dropbox app.

Indexing speed depends on how many files you have and how fast your new drive is. A few hundred files might take five minutes; tens of thousands might take an hour or more. Once indexing is complete, the progress indicator will disappear and you'll see the normal Dropbox status.

What to do if something goes wrong

If Dropbox created a new empty folder on your original drive after the move, pause Dropbox again and delete that empty folder. Then open Dropbox preferences and make sure it's pointing to the correct location on your new drive. Dropbox won't re-create the folder if the app is paused.

If files appear to be missing after the move, check that you moved the entire Dropbox folder, not just the contents. The folder itself needs to move — if you moved only the files inside it, Dropbox won't recognize them. In this case, pause Dropbox, move the files back into a folder named "Dropbox" on your new drive, and repeat step 3.

How this affects your phone and tablet

Moving your Dropbox folder on your computer doesn't change anything on your phone or tablet. Those devices sync with Dropbox's servers in the cloud, not directly with your hard drive. Your files will continue to appear in the Dropbox app on your phone exactly as they did before.

If you were selectively syncing certain folders to your phone (to save space), those settings stay in place. You can change them anytime from the phone app's settings, but the move on your computer won't affect what's already downloaded to your device.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I move my Dropbox folder to a network drive or cloud storage?

Dropbox works best on a local drive — one physically connected to your computer or built into it. Moving it to a network drive (like a shared folder on another computer) or to cloud storage (like Google Drive or OneDrive) can cause sync conflicts and slow performance. If you need files on a network drive, use Dropbox's selective sync feature instead to keep only certain folders on your computer.

What if my new drive is slower than my old one?

Dropbox will work, but syncing may be slower. External USB drives and older hard drives sync more slowly than internal solid-state drives. If speed matters for your work, consider keeping Dropbox on your fastest drive and using selective sync to keep only active projects synced locally.

Do I need to do anything on my other computers?

No. If you have Dropbox on multiple computers, each one has its own local folder in its own location. Moving the folder on one computer doesn't affect the others. Each computer will continue syncing with the cloud independently. You only need to move the folder and update preferences on the computer where you're making the change.

Can I move just some of my Dropbox files to another drive?

Not by moving the folder itself — Dropbox needs the entire folder in one location to sync properly. If you want to store some files elsewhere, move them out of your Dropbox folder entirely (they'll stop syncing), or use Dropbox's selective sync to keep them in the cloud but not downloaded to your computer.