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Dec 21, 2020 • Filed to: Take Data Backup • Proven solutions

• Online Backup Dropbox
• How To Backup Mac Photos
• Backup Mac Photos To Dropbox Free
• How Do I Back Up My Mac Photos To Dropbox
• Backup To Dropbox Software

Synchronization is an innovative technology that greatly facilitates teamwork, also, it maintains backed up and updated information, so it is not surprising that cloud storage services like Dropbox allow synchronization, in this way, you can enjoy of the benefits of synchronization while optimizing the use of space on your computer. In this post, I will teach you to step by step how to synchronize your folders with Dropbox.

Part 1: How to Sync Local Folder to Dropbox

Computer backup: Turn on computer backup to continuously sync photos in key folders on your Mac or PC to your Dropbox account. Document scanning: The Dropbox mobile app lets you use your phone’s camera to scan and make digital backups of receipts, whiteboards and paper documents. Here are the steps to Backup Photos from Apple Photos App to Dropbox on Mac: Download and install 'Dropbox Desktop Application' on your Mac. Open 'Photos' app on your Mac. Select the photos which you want to backup. Click 'File' menu. Select 'Export' option. You will see two options i.e. How to upload photos and videos. If you don't have camera uploads enabled, you can manually add photos to your Dropbox account. To do so: Open the Dropbox mobile app. Open the Dropbox folder where you'd like to store your photos. Tap the '+' (plus sign) at the bottom of your screen. Choose Upload Photos. Tap the photos you would like to upload.

What is synchronization and why has it become so popular today as a data sharing and backup method? Synchronization is a data management technology that replicates information from one location to another, also, this technology is capable of identifying when the information at the source location changes and updates the information at the target location.

This is where Dropbox complements the process by providing a cloud storage service with which you can synchronize the information on your computer, in this way, you will not need to physically have any additional storage device and thanks to the cloud storage service, Dropbox allows you to share access to the information you have stored in the cloud to multiple users at the same time. You can use all this infrastructure to share and back up your information in real-time with multiple people for free.

Part 2: Get to Know Dropbox

Dropbox is an application that offers a cloud data storage service and has a very practical interface that greatly facilitates user interaction. The application allows free use of the service but with a limited amount of storage space and can be used for various purposes such as backup and information sharing. This has made it a very popular application for coordinating teamwork in all kinds of areas.

Dropbox lets you synchronize folders on your computer with the cloud storage service, making it much easier to keep your information backed up and updated at all times without taking up storage space on your computer.

Online Backup Dropbox

Part 3: How to Sync Local Folder with Dropbox?

Now that you know what sync is and what it's for, I'll show you how to use Dropbox's cloud storage service to sync your folders easily.

Step 1: Create a Dropbox account

First, you will need to create an account on Dropbox, keep in mind that there are several rate plans and you can choose the one you want, even the free plan will allow you to carry out synchronization processes but with a limit of up to 2GB of free space.

Step 2: Choose an account tier

Keep in mind that 'Dropbox Smart Sync' is the name of a complimentary service that offers additional advantages for managing data from the cloud, with which you can edit and view the files that you store in the cloud without the need to download them back. However, this service is not available in the free plan, but it is not necessary to synchronize your folders either.

Step 3: Install and set up the app

Once you are registered on Dropbox you will have to download and install the desktop application. You can access the application menu from the taskbar by clicking on the 'Dropbox' icon, in this menu you must click on the 'gear' icon located in the upper right corner of the menu to access the window configuration from which you can manage your account preferences. The installer will automatically generate a folder called 'Dropbox' on your computer from which you can easily manage the data you store in the Dropbox cloud.

Step 4: Sync folders

To synchronize a folder with the Dropbox cloud, you must move the folders you want to synchronize to the Dropbox folder. It is recommended to cut and paste the folders instead of copying them as this will save space on your computer and avoid making mistakes when editing files.

Part 4: How to Sync Folder outside Dropbox Folder?

Although the synchronization process saves a lot of space on your computer, you may prefer to access your documents from their original location and not from the Dropbox folder, to solve this problem there are two simple methods. Below I will explain how they work.

Method 1: Manual way

The simplest method is to create a shortcut of the folders that you moved to the Dropbox folder and put the shortcut in the original location of your local drive.

Step 1: Copy and paste the folder you want to sync with the Dropbox folder

Move the folders you want to sync with the Dropbox folder

How To Backup Mac Photos

Step 2: Create a symbolic link

Right-click on the folders you want to access from another location, move the cursor over the 'Send To' option, and click on 'Desktop'. This will create a shortcut on your desktop, now you only have to move the folder shortcut to the original location or any other you prefer.

Method 2: With AOMEI Backupper

As you may have noticed, synchronizing your folders with Dropbox is extremely simple, however, the Dropbox synchronization manual method may be impractical in various situations, for example; If you want to use cloud storage to sync and back up large files, such as videos or high-resolution images, the reading and writing processes are very likely to become extremely slow due to the limitations of your internet connection. For this reason, the most effective method of synchronizing information regardless of file size is through professional backup software such as AOMEI Backupper.

AOMEI Backupper allows you to schedule multiple synchronizations and backup processes, in this way, you can choose any folder without the need to move it from its original location and synchronize it with practically any storage device, including cloud storage services or network locations, also, this software allows you to customize the backup process to be more efficient, for example, you can choose to synchronize your data every time you make a change to the information or even in real-time, facilitating the process and optimizing the management of your resources.

Below I will show you how to use it.

Backup Mac Photos To Dropbox Free

Step 1: Go to 'File Sync'

Once the software is open, go to the 'Backup' section (located on the left panel of the window). Now click on the 'File Sync' option.

Step 2: Assign a name to your task

Before going further, it's advisable to name each backup task to help you to distinguish each backup process from other ones. You can do this by clicking on the 'Task name' edit icon.

Step 3: Select the folder to sync

Click on 'Add Folder' and select the one where are stored the files you want to sync with Dropbox.

Step 4: Select 'cloud drive' option

Now, you must select the cloud drive option by clicking on the dropdown list button.

Step 5: Select 'Dropbox'

Once you've selected the 'Cloud Drive' option, a Window like this will be displayed. Please select 'Dropbox' and click on 'Ok.'

Step 6: Schedule

Before finishing, click on the 'clock' icon at the bottom of the window. There you can customize the time intervals in which the data will be synchronized with Dropbox. I recommend using the 'Real-Time Sync' or 'Event Triggers' option. In this way the information will be synchronized automatically each time a change is made to the files, thus ensuring that your information will always be updated on Dropbox.

Step 7: Start the sync process

If all the preferences have been set up, you will have to click on the 'Start Sync' button. As you have seen, the AOMEI Backupper tool is pretty simple to use and allows you to make any kind of backup process with great ease

Conclusion

Synchronizing your folders with Dropbox is always a wise decision, however, it is highly recommended to carefully consider which synchronization method is best suited to your needs. The manual method is effective, but as you may have noticed, if you don't have a professional Dropbox account, this method may be impractical. On the other hand, AOMEI Backupper was specifically designed to efficiently carry out any backup and synchronization process, just a few clicks, and the software will take care of the rest.

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Don’t store your photo library on Dropbox

I see a lot of users of both PowerPhotos and iPhoto Library Manager who want to store their iPhoto/Photos library in Dropbox. This is totally understandable, as it would provide an easy way to keep your library synced between two Macs, and would be totally awesome… if it worked reliably. Unfortunately, the way the library is stored internally does not mesh well with how Dropbox’s syncing works, and can easily result in data corruption. Here’s how that can happen.

How Do I Back Up My Mac Photos To Dropbox

Photos uses a series of SQLite database files to store the data for the library. This includes thing like lists of all the photos in the library, all the metadata for those photos, how they’re organized into moments and albums, and so forth. Each SQLite database is essentially a single file (though a couple helper files are also used while the database is open) which contains however many hundreds or thousands of database records are required to store all the information for the library.

When you make a change in your library, such as creating a new album, Photos will modify the database with the new data necessary for whatever changes you made. SQLite makes this process very efficient, only needing to modify a small portion of the file to add/modify the necessary data, rather than having to write out an entirely new copy of the database file for each individual change.

Dropbox, on the other hand, performs all of its syncing on a per-file basis. So, when Photos make a small modification to one of its database files, Dropbox will copy the entire data file again. Here’s an easy way to demonstrate how this can cause data loss in your library, using two Macs, which we’ll call Mac A and Mac B. (everything here applies to iPhoto and Aperture libraries as well)

1. On Mac A, create a new Photos library in your Dropbox folder, either by holding down the option key while launching Photos, or by using PowerPhotos to create the library.
2. Import a bunch of photos into the library, just to give us a bit of content to work with.
3. On Mac B, you should see the library appear in its Dropbox folder as Dropbox starts syncing the data across. Wait until the checkmark by the library turns green, indicating that Dropbox has finished syncing.
4. Double click the library on Mac B to open it in Photos, which it will do happily, even though the library is still open on Mac A. You should see the same content you added to the library on Mac A.
5. Create a new album in the library on Mac B, and name it “Album B”. Add a couple photos to it if you’d like.
6. Over on Mac A, create an album in the library called “Album A”. Add a couple photos to it if you’d like.
7. Quit Photos on both Macs, in any order. You should see a flurry of Dropbox syncing activity on both machines, which will eventually settle down as Dropbox finishes its syncing.
8. Open the library back up on Mac A, and open the library back up on Mac B.

You will most likely see either Album A show up on both machines, or Album B show up on both machines, but not both. This is because, while both Macs have modified their own local copy of the library database, Dropbox does not have the smarts to merge the bits of those files that have changed together (nor should it). One of the databases will overwrite the other one, blowing away whatever changes were made there. Which one survives and which one doesn’t will depend entirely on the timing of Dropbox’s syncing.

If you’re less lucky, one or both of the libraries won’t be openable in Photos at all, which will display a message saying that it needs to repair the library database. Even if it successfully completes the repair, you will either only see one of your new albums in the resulting library, or perhaps neither of them.

Now, it is theoretically possible to make a setup like this work, if you make sure not to open both libraries at once, and always remember to close Photos on one machine before using it on the other, and always remember to wait for Dropbox to completely finish syncing your files before opening the library, and Dropbox never has a hiccup or delay in copying one of those database files, and so on. Oh, and if you decide to use this library as your system and/or iCloud photo library, meaning the system always has the library open in the background? Fugetaboutit.

This is actually more dangerous than an obvious immediate failure, because doing this can actually work OK, for a while at least. But you’re definitely playing with fire if you use this to sync your library on a long term basis.

Backup To Dropbox Software

Apple could try to add some sort of lock file that might prevent simultaneous opening of a library on two machines, but that would still leave plenty of room for syncing to screw things up, along with other various downsides. In my opinion, they should just disallow Photos from directly opening a library from Dropbox at all (filed with Apple as bug 20902778. They actually already disallow creating or opening a Photos library that’s stored on iCloud Drive, presumably for similar reasons (though the resulting error message isn’t exactly user friendly). I’m also planning on adding checks for this in the next updates to iPhoto Library Manager and PowerPhotos, to at least warn people about putting a library in Dropbox.