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Forum Discussion
Dropbox has created a folder called 'Mac'. Is it safe to delete it?
On my iMac, Dropbox has created a folder called 'Mac'. This folder is not listed in the app. on the iMac, the folder always has the blue sync in progress icon.
Is it ok to simply drag this 'Mac' folder to the trash and delete it?
- Megan
Dropbox Staff
Hey TartanTrumpet, let's jump right into this!
Based on what you described, it sounds like you have enabled our Backup feature.
Before taking any actions, can you check your Backup page online to see if the feature is still active or if it's been disabled? You wouldn't want to trash the folder, while the feature is still active since that could affect any files or folders you might have in there.
Feel free to clarify what you mean when you say that "this folder is not listed on the app". I'm asking, because based on what you described it sounds like it's visible when you check inside your Dropbox folder, right?
Keep me posted, and we'll take it from there!
I've attached a screenshot. It says the last back up was today at 19:25. How is that possible, 19:25 is in the future?
I did experiment with backup last week, but then I thought I turned it off. The blue button says 'Enable backup', this suggest that backups are currently turned off, is that correct?By "this folder is not listed on the app", I mean that the folder appears in the Dropbox folder on my iMac hard drive, but it does not appear when I visit my account at dropbox.com/home.
Thank you.
- Megan
Hey TartanTrumpet, thanks for the screenshot!
It looks like your Backup is indeed disabled. Let's see why the app still syncs it.
Would you also mind clarifying your app's current syncing status? Also, do you have any files/folders inside your Mac's Backup folder?
Here's a screenshot that I hope tells you about the sync status?
I can't see a folder called 'backup' on my Mac.
Thanks
- Megan
Hey TartanTrumpet!
When I'm referring to your Backup, I'm talking about the "Mac" folder inside Dropbox.
If there are no files there, feel free to delete it.
As for the "couldn't sync files" have you tried clicking on the "fix" option, to see where that takes you?
Clicking on "fix" reveals issues with 4 image files. See screenshot.
The "Mac" folder does contain folders that are empty except for 4 folders, each of which contains 1 of the 4 image files that are revealed when I clicked "fix". See screenshot.
Thanks
I don't see a 'Delete backup' button.
See screenshot.
Thanks
- Hannah
Thanks for checking, TartanTrumpet.
Just to confirm, what is the exact location of the "Mac" folder? Can you send us the folder path?
Macintosh HD > Users > Username > Username Dropbox > Username > Mac
- Hannah
Thanks for that, TartanTrumpet.
So, when someone disables the backup feature, they're presented with two options; one is to keep the files in Dropbox and the other is to move them back to their original location. Do you remember which one you chose?
Also, can you see the images that are inside the "Mac" folder in Dropbox, in their original location on your computer as well?
Unfortunately, I can't remember the choice I made when disabling the backup feature.
Yes, the images are still in their original location on my computer.
- Jay
Hi TartanTrumpet, in order to look into this matter in more detail, I'd recommend contacting the support team directly for them to investigate further.
