Zibity

How to sync a folder to multiple computers

I am often asked for instructions for how to synchronise a folder to multiple computer. This could be useful if you wanted to have your Desktop, Documents folder, or something else easily accessible on all of your Macs.

This can be done easily thanks to MacDropAny, my free app. To do this, just follow these simple instructions:

1. Make sure that you have a backup of your computer (or at least a backup copy of the files you are going to be tinkering with). As outlined in the Zibity Software Licence, I cannot be held responsible for any loss of data incurred as a result of using my apps.
2. Pause (or quit) Dropbox on all of the computers which you want to sync
3. On the first computer, use MacDropAny to sync your Desktop folder (or Documents, Downloads, etc.).
4. Repeat this previous step on all of your other computers, however you must make sure that you locate the “Dropbox copy” of the folder in the same location inside your Dropbox. For example, in the root (top) folder of your Dropbox, and you must make sure that when you are asked what you want the folder to be called, that you use the same name on all of your computers.
5. Unpause (or launch) Dropbox on all of your computers at the same time.
   Let Dropbox sync all of the changes.

If everything has worked correctly, you should now have a folder which magically keeps itself in sync.

You can do this with any folder which is on your local machine (ie not on an external drive). Additionally, it is not reccomended to sync folders with thousands of files (your Applications folder, for example), as Dropbox can sometimes throw a bit of a hissy fit when you do this.

If you find MacDropAny particularly useful, please consider making a small donation to help support future development. I’m only 15 years old, so any contribution, no matter how small, will be greatly appreciated.