Dropbox Backup: an overview

Dropbox Backup provides an easy way to automatically back up important files and folders from your computers and external hard drives so you can ensure that your content is safe and recoverable it if things go wrong. Once your files are backed up with Dropbox Backup, you can access them from dropbox.com/backup/all. If you’re an admin for a team account, learn how to manage Dropbox Backup for your team.

Dropbox Backup features

Back up a computer

With Dropbox Backup, you can easily select which computer files and folders you’d like to back up to the cloud. After the initial backup, any changes you make to files and folders on your computer will reflect in Dropbox Backup*.

You can access your backed up files under “Mac” or “PC” from dropbox.com/backup/all.

*Some backup syncs will show changes to files and folders instantly and others will see changes integrated every 15 minutes. See how to check which version you’re using.

Back up an external hard drive

Once you plug in your external hard drive and agree to back it up, your files will get backed up to Dropbox Backup.

After your external hard drive files are backed up, you can access them from dropbox.com/backup/all.

Restore your files and folders from a backup

With Dropbox Backup, you can restore your backed up files and folders to a new computer. You can either download your backup as a .zip file or download all your files and folders to the same locations as your previous computer.

Learn more about restoring files and folders from a backup.

How to access Dropbox Backup

On dropbox.com:

1. Log in to dropbox.com.
2. Click the grid icon in the top-left corner.
3. Click Backup from the list that appears.

On the Dropbox desktop app:

1. Click the Dropbox icon in your taskbar (Windows) or menu bar (Mac).
2. Click your initials in the upper right of the window that appears.
3. Click Preferences.
4. Click Backups.
5. Click Set up or Manage backups.

How to check which version you’re using

You can check which version of Dropbox Backup you’re using by looking at the banner logo after signing in on dropbox.com/backup/all. If you’re using Dropbox Backup Beta, you’ll see Beta to the right of Dropbox Backup at the top of the page.