We are aware of the issue with the badge emails resending to everyone, we apologise for the inconvenience - learn more here.

Forum Discussion

israa_abuelezz's avatar
israa_abuelezz
Explorer | Level 4
3 years ago

I can't disable the backup of my Mac

Hello community,

 

Please I need urgent help on this, I have mistakably done a backup of my Mac for Dropbox and I can't access my Desktop on my Mac anymore after doing this it says, "Desktop can't be opened because the original item can't be found"  I tried to disable backup from the Adjust settings but I get an error saying "Coulnd't stop backup because My mac was renamed, deleted or moved" besides, I checked the available documents of my desktop in the online backup available in the dropbox website and many is missing!! basically because my storage is full, now how can restore my whole desktop without any missing files??

  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    3 years ago

    Hi there, israa_abuelezz, let's try something. Can you follow these steps?

     

    Click the Dropbox icon in your system tray.
    Click your profile picture or initials.
    Click on Preferences.
    Click the Accounts tab.
    Press the "alt+H" keys and at the same time, click the "Reset OS folder locations" button.
    Click Continue to proceed.


    Keep me posted.

  • JamBeej's avatar
    JamBeej
    Explorer | Level 4

    Every Mac-beginner is strongly advised to make backups, preferably with Time Machine. So if you have a backup on your Time Machine, you can restore your Mac with it. This at least will bring back your desktop. Whether or not it will bring back all your desktop files depends on how recently this backup was made.

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

    Hi israa_abuelezz, thanks for messaging the Community.

     

    Could you clarify exactly how this happened? Did you enable the computer backup and allow it to complete, or were there any other actions taken in the Dropbox desktop application or on the machine before it was finished?

     

    Is the backup visible on the site on this page?

     

    Any other info or screenshots would be helpful!

    • israa_abuelezz's avatar
      israa_abuelezz
      Explorer | Level 4

      Hello Jay , 

       

      Thanks for your reply. Fortunately, i restarted my Mac and i was able to see my Desktop files, now i want to stop backing up my folders to dropbox and remove the desktop application. I have signed out to stop syncing my files, but I think my Mac folders (Desktop, Downloads, and Documents) are still linked to the dropbox folder as the path for the Desktop, for example,  is still under my dropbox folder (CDS dropbox) ( as shown in the "Desktop" info attached). And i believe it is still linked to dropbox as the original icon for desktop (e.g., the Desktop icon for a Mac laptop) is not restored, I still have the Desktop, Documents, and Downloads as folders (not as default Mac folder icons). How can i restore my Mac environment as it was before i set up the backup to dropbox? am I missing any additional step?

       

      Thanks,

      • israa_abuelezz's avatar
        israa_abuelezz
        Explorer | Level 4

        Hello Jay 

         

        Thanks for your reply. I am unable to disable backup as i get prompt that the folders are not in default location as soon as i click on Manage backups. Please see the screenshot below. 

About Settings and Preferences

The Dropbox Community is here to help if you have questions about your account settings and preferences. Learn and share advice with 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!