How to Backup Dropbox to External Hard Drive | 3 Ways

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• User Case: Can I Back Up my Dropbox to an External Hard Drive
• How to Backup Dropbox to External Hard Drive Manually
• Backup Dropbox to External Hard Drive with MultCloud
• How to Backup Dropbox to External Hard Drive Directly
• Bonus Tip: How to Backup Dropbox to Another Cloud
• FAQs bout Backing Up Dropbox to External Hard Drive
• The End

User Case: Can I Back Up my Dropbox to an External Hard Drive

Dropbox is one of the most brilliant and outstanding cloud storage services for users to stash various data and offers users a convenient way to access the data there as long as the internet is available. However, it only offers 2GB of free storage space, which means most users need to upgrade their accounts to get more storage space and store more data.

Though Dropbox makes it easier for users to save different types of data, it’s not a backup service. Thus, it’s recommended to learn how to backup Dropbox to a hard drive to protect data.

Also, there are other Pros to backing up Dropbox data to an external hard drive:

Since you can benefit from backing up Dropbox data to hard drive, why not back up now? How to backup Dropbox files to external hard drive? This article offers you 3 simple ways to achieve the goal. Please read further!

Proven Ways to Backup Dropbox to External Hard Drive

Backup Dropbox to External Hard Drive via Download & Drag	Log in to the Dropbox web, select the files/folders, and click "Download". Connect your external hard drive, then drag and drop downloaded files to the external hard drive.
Backup Dropbox to External hard Drive via MultCloud	Create a MultCloud account, then click "Add Cloud" to add Dropbox. Then go to Dropbox in MultCloud, select files, and hit Download. Now, connect the external hard drive, and move the downloaded files to the drive.
Change Dropbox Folder Location	Plug external hard drive into your computer. Open Dropbox app > Settings > Preferences > Sync > Move. Choose an external hard drive as the new Dropbox folder location.

How to Backup Dropbox to External Hard Drive Manually

The commonest way to backup files from Dropbox to an external hard drive on Mac/Windows is to use the download feature on the Dropbox web app. So, you can back up from Dropbox to an external hard drive manually. Follow the rule: download the data you want to backup from Dropbox, and then move the data to your external hard drive. 

Step 1: Sign in to Dropbox

Sign in to your Dropbox on the web, and locate what you want to backup.

Step 2: Download the Dropbox data

Select the files or folders you decide to backup, and then hit the Download tab. Then the selected data will be downloaded to your local computer.

Step 3: Drag and drop to the external hard drive

Now, connect your external hard drive and make sure it can be detected by your computer. Then you can move the downloaded data to the external hard drive directly by dragging and dropping.

Pros of this way:

• Simple to start.
• No need to install the Dropbox desktop app.

Cons of this way:

• The internet connection should be kept well.
• Applicable for the small size of files.

Backup Dropbox to External Hard Drive with MultCloud

Backing up Dropbox to external hard drive with a brilliant cloud file manager, MultCloud, is also a feasible way. MultCloud specializes in managing multiple cloud storage services on a single platform and moving files between clouds directly. Currently, MultCloud supports more than 30 clouds in the market, such as iCloud Photos, iCloud Drive, IDrive e2, Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Photos, Flickr, Amazon S3, Box, pCloud, Synology NAS, etc.

With MultCloud, you can do many basic operations that you can do on the official web of each cloud, such as uploading, renaming, sharing, downloading, deleting, and so on. For example, if you find the “Dropbox slow upload” issue, you can upload via MultCloud.

Now, you can refer to the following content to learn how to backup Dropbox to an external hard drive with MultCloud.

Step 1: Create a MultCloud account

Go to MultCloud on the web and sign up for free.

Step 2: Add Dropbox to MultCloud

Hit Add Cloud on the left sidebar, then add Dropbox by clicking the Dropbox icon and following the instructions shown to you on the next window.

Step 3: Download Dropbox data

Now, go to Dropbox, and select the file you plan to backup. Then right-click to choose the Download button. After that, the selected data will be downloaded to your local computer.

Step 4: Move the downloaded Dropbox files to the external hard drive

Connect your external hard drive to your computer. Next, locate the data on your local computer, and then drag the data and drop it into the external hard drive.

Pros of this way:

• No limit to the number of cloud accounts you can add.
• Put multiple clouds in only one place.

How to Backup Dropbox to External Hard Drive Directly

The easiest way to backup data from Dropbox to an external hard drive is to take advantage of the Dropbox desktop app. Here’s what you should follow:

Step 1: Connect your external hard drive to Computer

Connect your hard drive to your computer at first.

Step 2: Set up Dropbox settings

Run your Dropbox on computer and tap Settings > Preferences > Sync > Move.

Step 3: Choose the external hard drive as the destination to backup Dropbox file to external hard drive.

Choose the external hard drive to be the new location to save data on Dropbox.

Bonus Tip: How to Backup Dropbox to Another Cloud

On top of backing up Dropbox to external hard drive, backing up data from Dropbox to another cloud is also a good way to keep your data safe. Compared to the hard drive, cloud storage services make it more convenient to share and perform online editing. Yet, how to backup Dropbox to another cloud in a hassle-free way?

Thankfully, you can also make use of the professional third-party service – MultCloud. As a technical cloud-to-cloud backup service, MultCloud can complete backup tasks across clouds efficiently and seamlessly. Compared to traditional downloading and uploading, MultCloud is much more troubleshooting. 

Now, let’s have a look at how to backup Dropbox to another cloud via MultCloud:

Step 1: Add Dropbox and Another Cloud

Log in to your MultCloud and head to Add Cloud to add Dropbox and another cloud, respectively. Here, take Synology NAS as an example.

Step 2: Head to Cloud Backup to backup Dropbox to Synology NAS

Hit the Cloud Backup tab, and configure Dropbox as the source directory and NAS as the target directory. Finally, press Backup Now.

After that, MultCloud will start backing up the process in a minute. Likewise, if you want to backup Dropbox to Google Drive, this service can also meet your requirements.

FAQs bout Backing Up Dropbox to External Hard Drive

Can Dropbox automatically backup my files to an external hard drive?

A: Not directly through Dropbox alone. You need third-party software like MultCloud or Qiling Disk Master with scheduled backup tasks.

Does Dropbox support backing up directly to an external hard drive?

A: No. You must manually download files, move your Dropbox folder location, or use third-party software.

What happens if I move my Dropbox folder to an external hard drive?

A: This changes your sync location—it does not create a backup copy. If the drive disconnects, Dropbox stops syncing.

Can I schedule automatic backups from Dropbox to my external hard drive?

A: Yes, you can perform automatic backups from Dropbox to an external hard drive using third-party software. Tools like MultCloud offer daily, weekly, or monthly scheduled tasks.

Why backup Dropbox to an external hard drive instead of relying on Dropbox alone?

A: Dropbox is a sync platform, not a backup service. An external drive provides offline access, protection from accidental deletion, and a one-time cost.

What file system does my external hard drive need?

A: For moving your Dropbox folder, use NTFS (Windows) or HFS+/APFS (Mac). For manual backups, any readable format (including exFAT) works.

How do I backup my entire Dropbox without downloading each file manually?

A: Copy your local Dropbox folder (after full sync) directly to the external drive. This is much faster than web download for large accounts.

Is backing up to an external drive safer than using another cloud service?

A: Each has trade-offs. External drives offer offline access but risk physical damage. Cloud backups offer geographic redundancy. Use both for the 3-2-1 rule.

The End

Anyway, if you want to backup Dropbox to external hard drive, you can follow any solution mentioned above. In short, you can backup from Dropbox to external hard drive by the Dropbox web app, desktop app and MultCloud. Meanwhile, if you want to backup data across clouds, you can utilize MultCloud without any effort.

In addition to the Cloud Backup feature, MultCloud allows users to transfer files across clouds through the Cloud Transfer and Cloud Sync feature. For instance, if you want to transfer Dropbox to Google Photos or sync Google Drive with Dropbox, you can choose those two features.