I´ve just signed up to Dropbox (free account) and want to move my Documents folder to it. It´s quite small, ca. 750MB. However, when I try to move it into Dropbox I get a warning telling me that my home Documents folder “cannot be moved to dropbox as it is required by macOS”. So I´ve thought about maybe creating a new folder on Dropbox (called whatever) and then moving just the contents of my Documents folder into this new folder. I´ve tried this with just a tiny folder and it works. Is this the right way to go about using my Documents folder with Dropbox or am I missing something here?!
By the way, I have a brand new iMac running High Sierra 10.13.3 with a 500GB internal flash drive, if it´s relevant.
I do use iCloud, but only for syncing Calendar, Notes, Contacts etc. between my Mac and iPhone, and don´t want to turn on “Desktop & Documents”. Thanks for any help/suggestions, and just let me add that I really enjoy your weekly newsletter and video clips! Best regards, Ian.
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Ian Leckie
The Documents folder is a default folder in macOS. You would leave the Documents folder where it is, and just not use it. Or, use it for things you don't want on DropBox. For instance, even if you want everything on DropBox, you may come across the need to store a huge file (video or graphic, or collection of files for work or something) and you can use Documents for that.
You can use the DropBox folder itself as a replacement for your Documents folder. No need to create a subfolder inside it. Or, you can create a folder also named Documents (or Projects, or Stuff or any name you like) in there and put everything into that.
It is really up to you to decide how you want to arrange it.
Thanks for replying so swiftly, Gary! Your succinct info has answered my question!