You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.

Forum Discussion

Nikolai7's avatar
Nikolai7
Explorer | Level 3
5 years ago

Need to download files straight from dropbox to an external hard drive

I need to download some big files straight to an external hard drive instead of the internal drive on my macbook.  I cant find the option to switch the default download location.


  • Nikolai7 wrote:

    I cant find the option to switch the default download location.


    The Dropbox client on your computer will always sync to the Dropbox folder. You can move the entire folder to a different drive in Preferences (externals are NOT recommended), but you can't specify a different sync location for just certain files.

     

    If you're referring to downloading files from the Dropbox website, then Dropbox isn't controlling the download location; your browser is.

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

    Nikolai7 wrote:

    I cant find the option to switch the default download location.


    The Dropbox client on your computer will always sync to the Dropbox folder. You can move the entire folder to a different drive in Preferences (externals are NOT recommended), but you can't specify a different sync location for just certain files.

     

    If you're referring to downloading files from the Dropbox website, then Dropbox isn't controlling the download location; your browser is.

  • Nikolai7's avatar
    Nikolai7
    Explorer | Level 3

    Thanks homie.  You were right, just had to change my safari settings.

About View, download, and export

Need support with viewing, downloading, and exporting files and folders from your Dropbox account? Find help from the Dropbox Community.

Need more support

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!