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Forum Discussion
How do I delete duplicate Dropbox folder
I upgraded my wife from old Vista laptop to new Win10 laptop. At first, I copied al her user folders to the new machine. This included her Dropbox folder. I later installed Dropbox. This downloa...
Hey anonymous and brianchew,
What Pikamander2 has stated is correct.
I can also suggest to check which is the actual syncing folder on your computer by following these steps:
- Click the Dropbox icon in your system tray.
- Click on your initials/profile pic
- Click on "Preferences"
- Click on the "Sync" tab
In the "Dropbox folder location" section, you should be able to see the location of the Dropbox folder.
Move or copy the files you want on that folder and then delete the unwanted one.
I hope this helps!
Mod note: edited to update steps [last update 2023]
Hi gbm,
Before deleting anything, be sure to back up all of your files somewhere else, such as to a flash drive.
The folder that the Dropbox program uses is normally located at C:\Users\Username\Dropbox. That's the folder that you should keep.
The other folder isn't being synchronized by Dropbox, so it's effectively just a normal folder on your computer. That's the one that you should be able to delete.
If you want to be extra sure, can you please tell us the file path of the two folders?
Before deleting anything, be sure to back up all of your files somewhere else, such as to a flash drive.
The folder that the Dropbox program uses is normally located at C:\Users\Username\Dropbox. That's the folder that you should keep.
The other folder isn't being synchronized by Dropbox, so it's effectively just a normal folder on your computer. That's the one that you should be able to delete.
If you want to be extra sure, can you please tell us the file path of the two folders?
Pikamander2, i had the same issue. I reinstalled the DB software and it started an add'l DB file on my computer giving me two. So I went to the dropbox icon, right clicked to settings and change the sync dropbox location. That removed all my dropbox files and relocated them to a new location that I set. But now I have the other db file still there and it has the DB logo on it. infact, both of those folder locations have the db logo. When I try to delete the old one it says I do nto have the permissions to do so. how do i get rid of this other file?
- Minato
Dropbox Staff
Hey anonymous and brianchew,
What Pikamander2 has stated is correct.
I can also suggest to check which is the actual syncing folder on your computer by following these steps:
- Click the Dropbox icon in your system tray.
- Click on your initials/profile pic
- Click on "Preferences"
- Click on the "Sync" tab
In the "Dropbox folder location" section, you should be able to see the location of the Dropbox folder.
Move or copy the files you want on that folder and then delete the unwanted one.
I hope this helps!
Mod note: edited to update steps [last update 2023]
I had similar issue with my original Dropbox system folder showing in 2 locations (Desktop and under Users). These appear to be the same logical System folder based on its Properties/Location. I could not delete the Dropbox folder showing under the Desktop folder, even after unlinking my Dropbox account. This appears to be a Windows phantom folder that doesn't really exist in two places. Is it just a nuisance and it's impractical to remove the duplicate Dropbox entry?
These are not phantom folders. They have different files. As well, these occur on 3 computers, compounding the problem.
I have multiple Dropbox applications on my computer with different folders - due to my stupidity when moving to new computers.
How do I integrate them into a single Dropbox application?
