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butterbisc's avatar
butterbisc
Explorer | Level 3
5 years ago
Solved

Unable to transfer files

I've been having difficulty with transferring files from my old laptop to the current one I have now.

Whenever I try to transfer my files, a pop-up shows up on the bottom of my screen; saying that

it was "Unable to create transfer". I have transferred folders with Dropbox before, so I'm unsure why

this is happening now.

  • Daphne's avatar
    Daphne
    5 years ago
    For your account's current plan, is it possible that the folder is too large to create a transfer for, butterbisc?

    If it's a large amount of data within the folder, it could be that the download is failing due to the website timing out, or the folder being to large.

    Since you have all your files in your account online though, have you considered installing the desktop app on the new computer?

    This will allow the app to sync all the files down from the website initially, so the "My Dropbox Move" folder will be available locally on that computer.

    Once it's downloaded, you can then even uninstall the app so that you can do whatever you'd like with the files locally, without the changes syncing to your account online.
  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    Hi butterbisc, thanks for taking the time to message us!

    In general, you don't need to create a file transfer in order to move files from one device to another. 

    Have you signed into the Dropbox desktop application on both computers? If so, then the Dropbox folder would be the best way to move files across, by having them sync from the old laptop to the new one.

    If you need any more details, feel free to message back!
    • butterbisc's avatar
      butterbisc
      Explorer | Level 3

      Ah, I am unable to open the desktop application on both computers. The computer that had my files from

      before ended up being returned because there was an issue with it, so I no longer have it in my possession.

      • Jay's avatar
        Jay
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        Were any of those files backed up to Dropbox before you returned the computer?

        Are they visible on the site, so you can download them to your new computer?

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