Even if Dropbox say this is a network drive, you are able to sync Dropbox folder to network drive in Windows 10 with two effective methods in this article.
“Hi, I have an external drive connected to my router which appears in the network as \10.50.1.1\Name. How do I sync my Dropbox file to a location there? when I try to move the directory over there, I get a message that this is a network drive. Thanks!”
- Question from Dropbox Community
Dropbox is a cloud storage service that lets you save files online and sync them to your devices. You can use a Dropbox link to share files and folders with others without sending large attachments, which is a great convenience for most users. This is one of the reasons why more and more people are using Dropbox.
However, in the process of using Dropbox, some users reported that they encountered some problems. Such as Dropbox not syncing in Windows 10, Dropbox syncing forever. To avoid losing files when you encounter any Dropbox sync issues or to prevent file deletion or damage, many users choose to sync Dropbox folder to network drive to make a duplicate copy of files on Dropbox.
In this part, you can learn 2 ways to perform Dropbox sync to network drive. One is to use the best free file synchronization software - AOMEI Backupper to set up automatic synchronization. The second is to use the Robocopy command to mirror the folder to a network drive. Let's take a look at the specific operation steps.
AOMEI Backupper Standard is the best free file sync tool specially designed for Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP. You can use its Basic Sync feature to sync dropbox folder to a USB drive, network location, NAS device, or cloud drive. It also enables you to run automatic sync for data that are changed frequently. All operations are simple and require no technical skills.
Now let's take a closer look at how to automatically sync Dropbox folder to network drive using AOMEI Backupper. Please download, install and launch it on your computer. For server users, try AOMEI Backupper Server!
Steps 1. In the dark blue interface, click Sync on the left tab, then select Basic Sync on the right.
βΏ Note: In fact, the Basic Sync feature is the most basic sync method. You still can upgrade to the Professional version to enjoy advanced methods - “Mirror Sync”, “Real-Time Sync” and “Two-Way Sync” and you can choose them from safety, sync frequency and direction.
Step 2. Rename Task Name if needed and click Add Folder to choose Dropbox folder.
βΏ Note: Please remember not to change the source folder name, otherwise the software cannot sync it anymore.
Step 3. Click Add Share or NAS Device under the inverted triangle button. Then, type network path or name in the following window, select it and click OK to add a network folder.
Step 4. Then click Schedule Sync in the bottom left corner to set up automatic syncing. You can select daily/weekly/monthly, depending on how often you may modify Dropbox folder.
Tips: βͺ If you upgrade to higher version, you can also enjoy event triggers and USB plug in features. βͺ Click Options, you can make a comment of this task, set email notification, sync deletion, verify file integrity, etc.
Step 5. If everything is right, click Start Sync to sync Dropbox to network drive.
β¨ Bonus tip: backup important files to AOMEI Cloud
As cloud storage is becoming more and more popular, AOMEI offers users its own cloud - AOMEI Cloud. After you sign up for an AOMEI account, you can use 1TB storage for free within 15 days. Just click Backup > Cloud Backup to backup important files to AOMEI Cloud.
ROBOCOPY, for "Robust File Copy", is a command-line directory and/or file replication command for Microsoft Windows. Robocopy is used for mirroring or synchronizing directories, it is able to check the target directory and delete files that are no longer in the main tree. It will also check the files in the target directory against the files to be copied and won't waste time copying unchanged files.
There are many Robocopy options you can use to copy file data from one location to another. Please click the given link to learn them if you are not familiar with Robocopy command line. And then, learn how to use it in Windows 10 from the steps below.
Step 1. Type cmd in the search box and click Run as administrator to open Command Prompt.
Step 2. To sync dropbox folder from c:\public\dropbox to \\192.168.0.11\users\public, you can type the following command and hit Enter. You need to replace the following path with yourself. Please remember to add quote if the path has space.
robocopy c:\public\dropbox \\192.168.0.11\users\public /E /Z /ZB /R:5 /W:5 /TBD /NP /V /MT:16 /compress
Step 3. Wait untill the process complete, you will see the sync details and then check it in the destination path.
βͺ Tip: To save yourself the trouble of typing that each time you import photos to your library, you can copy and paste the command into Notepad and save it with the .bat extension.
Both methods provided in this article can help you sync Dropbox folder to network drive. But after comparison, the first one is relatively simple and easier to operate. Because no technical skills are required, only a few mouse clicks are required. The second method requires you to have some knowledge of the command line. Otherwise, operation failure or data loss may result.
So it's suggested to sync the Dropbox folder with AOMEI Backupper. If you want to do this on multiple computers, try its technician or techplus edition. It allows you to create a portable version of this software and run it off a flash drive, so you can use it easily on any computer without installing again.