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Forum Discussion
Turning on dropbox backup but folder name is weird
I had tested the Dropbox Backup feature in the past so I know that when turned on my Computers should be added as My Mac (Unique Mac Name). I decided to turn it back on again when setting up two new ...
OK, they are finally rolling up a Beta update for Dropbox Backup that will let you rename and I was able to do it! You can do go through Dropbox Backup in the app, disable the backups on all the computers there, and then restart them. Then, re-enable backups and it should move you over to beta so you can now rename things!
Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHey tjanderson, thanks for reaching out and sorry for the delay!
It seems that this change was implemented to simplify things with the computer backup folders.
The folder of the first computer that is connected to the account is named 'Mac' and the next one 'Mac (2)', etc.
This cannot be changed at the moment and the folders cannot be renamed.
Let me know if you have any questions!
It seems that this change was implemented to simplify things with the computer backup folders.
The folder of the first computer that is connected to the account is named 'Mac' and the next one 'Mac (2)', etc.
This cannot be changed at the moment and the folders cannot be renamed.
Let me know if you have any questions!
Hi Hannah,
Thanks for the confirmation this is expected behavior now.
Please pass along the feedback though I think this is a bad design choice and really doesn't simplify anything.
In my use case I have three different macs all with backup enabled. Which one is Mac or Mac (2) or Mac (3)?
If I'm on my iPad and know that I need to get a document that was saved in my iMacs Document folder - which Mac folder would I go to?
The previous setup where it would be Mac (Device Name) made these scenarios easy but giving a generic name makes it somewhat unusable unless you only had a single Mac or maybe a single Mac and single PC.
At this point I will turn off the backup features from Dropbox as I can't use this as is.
- HannahI do understand your view on this, TJ, and I will happily pass this feedback and your comments along to our team.
If there's anything else I can help you with, please let me know.Fully agreed. What a horrible decision to give the computers such non-descriptive names. When will this be addressed?
I FULLY AGREE AS WELL.
This is awefull it does not siplifiy ANYTHING!!
Please undo this. I reformated my PC now it shows up as PC 2 BUT IT'S NOT!
It makes me feel like I a=have anotehr PC being backed up but Im don't.
Hannah Hopefully you can pass this along to the Product Owner for Dropbox backup cause this is still a MAJOR downfall to Dropbox backup and to me makes the claim listed in the dropbox backup marketing https://www.dropbox.com/backup?_tk=social extremely suspect.
Also the marketing slide does not accurately reflect how Backup actually works. What the picture shows the name as Cobalt in reality is going to be Mac (4) or Windows (2). Maybe the feature to use computer name instead of the OS is rolling out but for now all I see is a lot of false claims from what Dropbox says they do and what they actually do. Would love to see that change
- Rich
Super User II
tjanderson wrote:
Maybe the feature to use computer name instead of the OS is rolling out ...
It's actually the other way around. The feature used to use the computer name for the backup folder name, but it was changed (for simplicity reasons?!) to use PC or Mac with a number appended.
