Does the drop box only save to PC or does it save to the cloud

AllanB

I recently signed up Drop Box. Backed up account file to the drop box folder. How does the cloud play a role. I already had a backup file.

Tom Young

You should really think of Drop Box as an "off site" place to safely store backups.  That is, if your computer's hard drive, (where your "live" file lives), should crash, you know that you have a backup of your data somewhere safe.

Drop Box should not be used as a "local hard drive" where you keep your real working file.  There can be and have been problems with this approach.

Greg_the_Geek

You need to setup manual backups to go to a Dropbox folder.

ie: C:\Users\<Username>\Dropbox\Quicken

jrich75

AllanB said:

Thank you all. One more question, do I use my Quicken username in the backup direction or do I create a new one

In this case, username would be your windows user name.  The name you use to access windows on your PC.  Windows creates a folder for each individual who is authorized to use it on a given PC.  If you have created an account with Dropbox, that is where the Dropbox subfolder will be and where the Quicken backup file should go.
If you open the Dropbox app on your PC you should be able to see the Quicken folder and the .QDF backup file should be in it.

AllanB

loud should read Cloud

Tom Young

You should really think of Drop Box as an "off site" place to safely store backups.  That is, if your computer's hard drive, (where your "live" file lives), should crash, you know that you have a backup of your data somewhere safe.

Drop Box should not be used as a "local hard drive" where you keep your real working file.  There can be and have been problems with this approach.

AllanB

Is this automatic or do I need to set it up? I have the app on my desktop but do not know what to do.

Greg_the_Geek

You need to setup manual backups to go to a Dropbox folder.

ie: C:\Users\<Username>\Dropbox\Quicken

jrich75

Dropbox is a cloud storage system.  It works by setting up a local Dropbox folder on your PC and replicating that folder (& subfolders) online within your account at Dropbox.com.  Whenever a file is updated locally, Dropbox will automatically update the cloud version of the same file.  As @Greg_the_Geek said, if you set up and complete a manual Quicken backup to the local Dropbox folder it should be automatically copied to your online Dropbox folder.
So, you do need to have a Dropbox account where the cloud version is stored.  I have used Dropbox for years so I'm not sure exactly how the Quicken Dropbox offer works if you are just starting to use it.  I would assume that by accepting the offer, you are agreeing to establish the online account and probably accepting responsibility for managing or discontinuing the account after the free term of the offer expires.  You should be able to go to dropbox.com and verify that your backup file is up to date.

NotACPA

AllanB said:

loud should read Cloud

I corrected it for you.

AllanB

Thank you all. One more question, do I use my Quicken username in the backup direction or do I create a new one

AllanB

My quicken username is a email address

AllanB

I used the subcategory name under users to backup as you advised. it created a new file on my PC. Will this backup be sent to the cloud automatically? How can I confirm?

jrich75

AllanB said:

Thank you all. One more question, do I use my Quicken username in the backup direction or do I create a new one

In this case, username would be your windows user name.  The name you use to access windows on your PC.  Windows creates a folder for each individual who is authorized to use it on a given PC.  If you have created an account with Dropbox, that is where the Dropbox subfolder will be and where the Quicken backup file should go.
If you open the Dropbox app on your PC you should be able to see the Quicken folder and the .QDF backup file should be in it.

jrich75

If you haven't done so already, you should read through this support document;
https://www.quicken.com/support/how-do-i-start-using-dropbox

thecreator

Hi @AllanB ,

Dropbox is a Cloud Storage, use to transfer files to your other computers as well as to store files as well to friends.

Dropbox is the same as One Drive from Microsoft. Dropbox needs to be installed on all computers, to transfer files, in place of using a USB Drive to share files.