How to find the Dropbox folder on a computer

Updated May 31, 2024

The information in this article applies to all Dropbox customers.

This article describes how to find the Dropbox folder on a computer once you’ve downloaded the Dropbox desktop app. If you haven’t done so yet, learn how to install the Dropbox desktop app on your computer.

Once you’ve downloaded the Dropbox desktop app, and logged in, you can find the default location of the Dropbox folder in your File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac).

However, if you’ve moved the Dropbox folder, you can see the location in the Preferences menu of the Dropbox desktop app.

To open your Dropbox desktop app preferences:

Click the Dropbox icon in your taskbar (Windows) or menu bar (Mac).
Click your avatar (profile picture or initials) in the top-right corner.
Click Preferences.

How to see your Dropbox folder location

Select your operating system below for instructions on seeing your Dropbox folder location.

Once you’re in the Preferences menu:

Click Sync in the left sidebar.
Scroll to the Dropbox folder location section.
Click the path displayed to copy your Dropbox folder location.
Open File Explorer.
Paste the path you copied into the address bar of File Explorer.
Press enter on your keyboard.

Once you’re in the Preferences menu:

Click Sync in the left sidebar.
Scroll to the Dropbox folder location section.
Click on the path displayed to copy your Dropbox folder location.
Open a new Finder window.
Click Go in the menu bar, then click Go to folder….
Paste the path you copied into the window that appears.
Press the return key on your keyboard.

Once you’re in the Preferences menu:

Click Sync in the left sidebar.
Scroll to the Dropbox folder location section.
Click on the path displayed to copy your Dropbox folder location.
Open a Terminal window.
Enter the following in the terminal window and replace ~/Dropbox with your Dropbox folder location:

cd ~/Dropbox

6. Press Enter.

Create a shortcut to the Dropbox folder on your computer

For easier access to the Dropbox folder on your computer, you can create a shortcut. To do so:

Go directly to the Dropbox folder’s location.
Right-click the Dropbox folder.
Click Create shortcut.

Go directly to the Dropbox folder’s location.
Right-click the Dropbox folder.
Click Make Alias.

Your shortcut will appear with alias appended to the name of the file.

Enter the following command in Terminal and replace the placeholders with your own paths:

In -s ~/DROPBOX-FOLDER-PATH ~/DESIRED-SHORTCUT-LOCATION

You can move the shortcut to the location you’d like to store it in.

How to programmatically find Dropbox folder paths

By default, the Dropbox folder is located in your user folder. If you moved your Dropbox folder, or if you connected a work and personal, it may be located elsewhere or have a name other than "Dropbox." You can programmatically find the folder path through a JSON file.

Note: If you connected your work and personal accounts on this computer, your JSON file will show two accounts. The JSON file will only have one account listed if you have one account or your accounts aren't connected on this computer.

In the JSON files below:

business/personal is the type of Dropbox account
host is an identifier that uniquely specifies a particular user account and computer pair
path is the path to this Dropbox folder

Select your operating system below to see further instructions.

The JSON file is named info.json and can be found at one of these two paths:


%APPDATA%\Dropbox\info.json
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Dropbox\info.json

In this file, you'll find a JSON object that looks like this:


{

    {"personal":

            {"path": "/Users/<username>/Dropbox (Personal)",

            "host": 123456789, 

            "is_team": false, 

            "subscription_type": "Basic"},

     {"business": 

            {"path": "/Users/<username>/Dropbox (<business name>)", 

            "host": 123456789, 

            "is_team": true, 

            "subscription_type": "Business"}

}

The JSON file is named info.json and can be found at:

   ~/.dropbox/info.json

In this file, you'll find a JSON object that looks like this:


 {

    {"personal":

            {"path": "/Users/<username>/Dropbox (Personal)",

            "host": 123456789, 

            "is_team": false, 

            "subscription_type": "Basic"},



     {"business": 

            {"path": "/Users/<username>/Dropbox (<business name>)", 

            "host": 123456789, 

            "is_team": true, 

            "subscription_type": "Business"}

    }

The JSON file is named info.json and can be found at:

~/.dropbox/info.json

In this file, there's a JSON object that looks like this:


"personal": {

        "path": /home/<username>/Dropbox

        "host": 123456789,

        "is_team": false

        "subscription_type": "Basic"

    }

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