Move Mac Photos Library To Dropbox

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How to transfer pictures from Photos app to Google Photos. You can’t simply drag your photos directly from the Photos app on your Mac into Google Photos on the web. First, you’ll need to export the photos from the Photos app. Step 1: Select the images in the Photos app for Mac that you wish to copy to Google Photos. To transfer your Live and Burst Mode photos from your iPhone, iPad, iPod touch or Mac computer, you can manually upload each file to your Dropbox account. Unfortunately, it’s not possible to automatically transfer Live Photos from Apple devices via camera uploads at this time. Yes there are many issues - bottom line is that it does not work - you can move photos to DropBox but not the Photos library - the Photos library must always be on a volume formatted Mac OS extended (journaled) and DB does not meet that - a number of people have tested and all reported tests have failed, none have been successful.

Dropbox is an online photo & video backup service. Dropbox is one of the best desktop application available in the app store and it is helpful in file synchronization. You need to download and install 'Dropbox Desktop Application' on your Mac to sync your iPhoto Library with Dropbox. To sync iPhoto library to your Mac, you will need to find the file for the existing iPhoto library in 'Picture' folder. When you install Dropbox on your Mac, it will create a dedicated folder i.e Dropbox folder on your Mac for storing your photos, videos and files. You can simply drag your iPhoto library from the Picture folder directly to Dropbox folder on your Mac.

Here are the steps to Sync iPhoto Library with Dropbox:

  1. Go to https://www.dropbox.com/ & sign in to your account. If you don't have an account, then create one.
  2. Download 'Dropbox Desktop Application' on your Mac from the Apple App store & launch it.
  3. Locate the file for the existing iPhoto library in your Picture folder.
  4. Go to iPhoto Library and choose 'Quit iPhoto' to make sure that iPhoto is not running.
  5. Copy your 'iPhoto Library' file into your Dropbox folder.
  6. Launch iPhoto. To launch iPhoto Library, simply double-click the iPhoto Library icon which you copied in Dropbox folder. It will automatically sync to your Dropbox folder.
  7. Open the file in iPhoto by holding down the Option key.
  8. Select the iPhoto Library option that's not the default. Now, iPhoto Library stored inside your Dropbox folder by default.
  9. Now, when you add new photos into iPhoto Library or make any changes to existing photos or organize them, then it will automatically backed up to Dropbox.
  10. You have another option to sync iPhoto Library i.e 'Drag-and-drop'. Here you can simply drag your iPhoto Library from the Picture folder directly from your Mac to Dropbox folder.

Move Mac Photos Library To Dropbox Mac

You can install PicBackMan's Dropbox uploader for Mac from the website and start backing up photos and videos.

Quick Tip to ensure your Photos never go missing
Photos are precious memories and all of us never want to ever lose them to hard disk crashes or missing drives. PicBackMan is the easiest and simplest way to keep your photos safely backed up in one or more online accounts. Simply download PicBackMan (it's free!), register your account, connect to your online store and tell PicBackMan where your photos are - PicBackMan does the rest, automatically. It bulk uploads all photos and keeps looking for new ones and uploads those too. You don't have to ever touch it.

Automatically download files from one computer to another

Move Mac Photos Library To Dropbox

There's a two-step process to automatically migrate files from one computer to another. First, you'll download and install the Dropbox desktop app on both computers. Next, you'll use the app to migrate files between computers.

Before you begin

  • If you have a large number of files, consider prioritizing them so the files you use every day migrate before archived files
  • Also consider migrating your data in batches, or doing the migration overnight or on a weekend
  • Be sure that the computer you're migrating files to has enough hard drive space (by default, the Dropbox desktop app keeps a copy of files on your computer's hard drive)
  • Check the amount of space in your Dropbox account, and consider upgrading if necessary (by default, Basic accounts have 2 GB of space, while Plus and Family accounts have 2 TB)
  • If you want to delete files from your old computer, or if you want to wipe the hard drive entirely, be sure to first sign out of Dropbox on that computer and uninstall the Dropbox desktop app (this will ensure synced files aren't deleted from Dropbox or from your new computer)

Download and install Dropbox on both computers

  1. Visit the Dropbox install page and download the latest version of the desktop app.
    • Note: you don't need to re-install the desktop app if you already have it on one or both of your computers
  2. Once the installation finishes, sign in to your Dropbox account or sign up for a new one.
  3. After signing in, click Open my Dropbox.

Notes:

  • Be sure to sign in to Dropbox using the same account on both computers (this ensures that the files in your Dropbox account on one computer migrate to the other computer)
  • If the install is successful, you'll see a Dropbox folder on the hard drive of both computers, and the Dropbox icon will appear in your taskbar (Windows) or menu bar (Mac).

Migrate files from one computer to another

  1. On the computer you're migrating from, open File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac) and navigate to any files or folders that you want to migrate. Drag-and-drop these files or folders to the Dropbox folder on your hard drive.
  2. As long as the computer you're migrating from is connected to the Internet, these files and folders will then upload to your Dropbox account in the cloud.
  3. These files and folders will also sync to your new computer, provided both of the following are true:
    • The computer you're migrating to is connected to the Internet
    • You're signed in to the Dropbox desktop app with the same Dropbox account on both computers

The migration is complete when a green circle with a checkmark appears beside the files and folders in the Dropbox folder on your computer. The Dropbox icon in your taskbar (Windows) or menu bar (Mac) will also say Up to date. You should then see the files and folders on both computers.

During and after migration

  • The amount of time it takes for the migration to complete depends on the number of files you're migrating, and on the speed of your internet connection (you can control bandwidth as needed)
  • Don't sign out, change settings, or turn off either computer during the migration process (the desktop app can only sync when you're signed in)
  • If you lose Internet access during the migration, Dropbox will simply pause syncing, and resume once you're online again
  • You can check the sync status at any time using the desktop application
  • If you want to delete files from a computer, or if you want to wipe the hard drive entirely, be sure to sign out of Dropbox on that computer and uninstall the Dropbox desktop app (this will ensure synced files aren't deleted from Dropbox)

Copy files manually

The other way to migrate files is to copy them manually from a portable storage device (like an external hard drive) to the Dropbox folder on your computer. The Dropbox desktop app will then scan the files, and see that they're the same files in your Dropbox account.

On your old computer

  1. Update the Dropbox desktop application to the latest version.
  2. Wait until syncing has finished, as indicated by the green circle with the checkmark on the Dropbox icon in your menu bar.
  3. Once syncing has completed, copy the contents of your Dropbox folder to your portable drive (such as a USB drive or external hard drive).

On your new computer

  1. Install the latest version of the Dropbox desktop application and sign in to your account when prompted.
  2. The application will create a Dropbox folder and begin downloading files from your account. Stop the download immediately by clicking the Dropbox icon in your taskbar (Windows) or menu bar (Mac), and selecting Pause Syncing from the menu.
  3. Copy the files from your portable drive into the Dropbox folder.
  4. Resume syncing by clicking the Dropbox icon in the taskbar (Windows) or menu bar (Mac), and selecting Resume Syncing from the menu.

Default location for the Dropbox folder

Note that the default location for the Dropbox folder is different for each operating system:

  • Linux: /home/yourUserName/Dropbox (such as /home/name/Dropbox).
  • Mac: /Users/yourUserName/Dropbox (such as /Users/name/Dropbox).
  • Windows: %HOMEPATH%Dropbox (such as C:UsersnameMy DocumentsDropbox).

How To Backup Mac Photos Library To Dropbox

Once you've completed these steps, the Dropbox desktop app will begin scanning the files in your Dropbox folder. If all of these files are the same as the files in your account online, scanning will finish. However if, in the middle of this process, a file has changed in your account (for example, someone else has updated a file in a shared folder), Dropbox will generate a conflicted copy so that both versions of the file are preserved.

Learn more

  • By default, Dropbox will try to download all of the folders in your account. If there are folders you don't want taking up space on your computer, you can use selective sync to store them only in the cloud. However, you may need to wait until Dropbox has finished its initial sync of your files before the selective sync option becomes available.
  • If you're going to copy files manually, you may want to temporarily leave shared folders. You can then copy your non-shared files to the Dropbox folder, and then re-add the shared folders and let them download to your computer. This will prevent Dropbox from generating conflicted copies of files if other people have changed them, as described above.