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

fssbob's avatar
fssbob
Collaborator | Level 10
2 years ago

Dropbox Backup Won't Back Up Encrypted APFS External Drives

I finally found the Dropbox FAQ that explains why I've never been able to use the new Dropbox Backup program on my external drives: "Note: Encrypted APFS drives aren't supported."

 

Apple recommends encrypting external drives that contain any personal information, and that's obviously for a good reason. Does Dropbox intend to support Encrypted APFS drives at some point? Other backup programs (e.g., Backblaze) have no problem with this.

 

(And is there any known way to work around this limitation?)

 

Thanks.

  • Hannah's avatar
    Hannah
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    Hey fssbob, thanks for your post here.

     

    At this time, encrypted APFS drives are not supported for external drive backup, as you've seen in our article.

     

    There are no known plans to support this kind of drive in the future, however, I'll pass your comments along to our team.

     

    We appreciate your feedback and we're always looking for ways to make Dropbox better.

     

    Let me know if you have any questions!

    • Garry16uk's avatar
      Garry16uk
      New member | Level 2

      That is ridiculous. It makes Dropbox massively less useful. But what makes me angry is that I had to spend hours messing about in settings and then an hour chatting to them on support before even they realised why my drives could not be added! If you are aware of this it should be stated in advance to save peopple all this hassle1

      • Walter's avatar
        Walter
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

        Hey Garry16uk - thanks for your feedback on this.

         

        It's been noted in our system - please let us know if you have anything else to add.  

About Apps and Installations

Have a question about a Dropbox app or installation? Reach out to the Dropbox Community and get solutions, help, and advice from members.

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!