How do I backup Dropbox to external hard drive without losing data? The post will show you the effective ways to backup Dropbox files to external hard drive easily. Please read on.
By Jonna
/ Last Updated February 1, 2023
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Get StartedHow do I backup Dropbox to external hard drive?
Hello everyone, I have been using Dropbox for the past few years and have saved a lot of data to the Dropbox cloud. Recently, I buy a new external hard drive and I want to backup all my old data including Dropbox data to it. Do you know how to backup Dropbox to external hard drive? What will be the best and fastest method to do so? Any kindly reply will be appreciated!
Normally, the two most common ways to store data are to use external hard drives or cloud storage. Although more and more users prefer cloud storage recently, the external hard drive is also necessary for the following reasons.
As we know, an external hard drive can prevent hackers from intruding and storing everything in minutes, Therefore, if you want to have a local copy of very important files for double insurance, backing up Dropbox to external hard drive just in case is a good choice.
External hard drives allow you to store large amounts of data from the device at very little cost and only require a one-time upfront cost. So, when the storage space of your Dropbox is insufficient but you don’t want to buy extra storage, you can backup some data to external hard drive and delete the original data on Dropbox to free up some space.
In the following contents, you will learn how to backup Dropbox files to external hard drive in both manual and automatic ways. With the manual way, you will learn how to download from Dropbox to external hard drive. These ways are free, you can choose one way to follow according to your needs. Please read on.
Dropbox offers web app to help you upload files or download files from Dropbox to local hard drive. Since it is a web app, you can easily backup Dropbox to external hard drive on Mac or Windows in this way. Please check the below steps to learn how Dropbox backup to external hard drive on Mac or Windows PCs:
1. Connect your external hard drive with your computer and make sure it can be detected.
2. Go to the Dropbox website and log in to your Dropbox account.
3. Find the file you want to backup to PC, click on “More” (three dots) on the right of the file column and choose “Download”.
4. The time it takes to finish the downloading depends on how large the file is and how fast your network is. Finally, you can find the file on your local computer. Move these files to your connected external hard drive manually.
According to the methods above, you must know how to download Dropbox files to external hard drive or how to copy files from Dropbox to external hard drive. Actually, the easier way to backup Dropbox to external hard drive is to use a powerful data backup software like AOMEI Backupper Standard, which can help you auto backup Dropbox to external hard drive in Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10/11. Here is how it works:
1. Connect your external hard drive with your computer and make sure it can be detected.
2. Download and install Dropbox desktop app on your computer, it will create a Dropbox folder on your computer.
3. Install and run AOMEI Backupper Standard, select “Basic Sync” under “Sync” tab.
4. Rename Task Name if needed and click “Add Folder” to choose the Dropbox folder.
5. Choose the external hard drive as the Dropbox folder backup location.
6. Click the “Start Sync” button to backup Dropbox to external hard drive.
To make Dropbox backup external drive, you can take advantage of the Dropbox desktop app, here are the steps:
1. Connect your external hard drive to your computer and ensure it can be detected.
2. Tap your Dropbox icon on the system tray, and tap the Avatar icon > Preferences.
3. Select the Sync tab, and hit the Move... button under the Dropbox folder location section.
4. Choose the external hard drive as the Dropbox default folder location to backup Dropbox to external drive directly.
Actually, no matter whether you want to make a copy of your Dropbox data or free up some space in Dropbox, you can backup Dropbox to another cloud storage instead of external hard drive. Compared with the external hard drive, cloud storage is a better backup destination. Cloud to cloud backup can be much quicker and easier with a professional cloud backup tool like CBackup.
CBackup is a cloud backup service that can help you backup files between cloud storage automatically and easily.
Don't hesitate to try it. The steps are listed below to backup Dropbox to another cloud via CBackup:
1. Download the CBackup app and create an account. After that, sign in to your account.
2. Select a cloud drive under the Storage tab, select your clouds (here is Dropbox), and click Authorize Now. Then sign in to your Dropbox account and authorize CBackup to access and manage your files on the cloud.
3. Click on the “Backup” tab, then, click Backup Public Cloud to Public Cloud.
4. Name your task, then you can choose Dropbox as the Source. Similarly, and add another cloud drive as the Destination (e.g. OneDrive).
5. Click “Start Backup” in the lower right corner to backup Dropbox to another cloud.
Besides, you could use the following useful features in CBackup to make things easier:
You must have known how to backup Dropbox to external hard drive. Actually, cloud to cloud backup is much easier. If you want to protect your Dropbox data, you are suggested to backup Dropbox automatically with CBackup frequently. Besides cloud backup, CBackup also offers many other features like cloud to cloud sync, PC cloud backup, cloud storage combination. Don’t hesitate to use it.
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