Ben's Blog World: How to migrate your Dropbox files to iCloud Drive, and why you may want to wait

Sunday, November 9, 2014

How to migrate your Dropbox files to iCloud Drive, and why you may want to wait

Ever since iCloud Drive has been available, one of those most common questions I get is how to migrate files and make the switch from services like Dropbox or Google Drive. While there is a relatively easy way to get your files into iCloud Drive from Dropbox, or any other cloud storage service such as Google Drive, Box, or OneDrive, that doesn't necessarily mean that you should just yet. Either way, here's how, and why you may want to wait.

How to copy files over from Dropbox to iCloud Drive

If you're running OS X Yosemite on your Mac, it's relatively easy to copy files from Dropbox to iCloud Drive. The process works pretty much the same not only for Windows users, but across all cloud storage services including Google Drive, Box, OneDrive, and others. Here's how:

Launch a new Finder window on your Mac and click on iCloud Drive in the left hand navigation.
Make any files you'd like just as you would to organize any other file structure. Many are already made for you, mainly for iOS and Mac apps that have created them for you.
Open another Finder window on your Mac and navigate to your Dropbox files.
Just copy directories or single files from Dropbox and paste them where you'd like them in iCloud Drive.

That's pretty much all there is to it. iCloud Drive may take a while to sync everything to the cloud but once the sync is done, everything should be available across all your devices, and on the web. However, there are a few caveats, and they're important ones. So read the next section before deciding on whether or not you're willing to ditch your current cloud storage service.

Why iCloud Drive doesn't yet replace services like Dropbox and Google Drive

Whether you use Dropbox for your primary cloud storage or another service such as Google Drive or Box, it's important to understand that there isn't currently an iCloud Drive app available on iOS like there is for all the others. This means that the only way to access all the files you just copied into iCloud Drive on your Mac is through iOS apps.

For example, if you want to open a spreadsheet, you'll need to do it through an iOS app, like Numbers, that already supports iCloud Drive. Need to open those PDF contracts? Same thing. You'll need to open them in an app such as Scanner Pro. If your apps don't support the document picker feature in iCloud Drive, you won't be able to simply view files the way you can with the Dropbox or Google Drive app.

If you're okay with having to use iOS apps in order to view all the documents you have in iCloud Drive, you may be alright. You'll just need to make sure you have apps that support iCloud Drive's document picker feature installed for all the different file types you use. For example, Scanner Pro for PDFs, Numbers for spreadsheets, Keynote for presentations, Lightroom or Photoshop for image files, and so on.

However, if you frequently find yourself launching the Dropbox app in order to view files, iCloud Drive isn't going to be a feasible replacement for you, at least not yet.

All that being said, the decision is completely up to you. Let me know what you decide, or any other concerns you have, in the comments section below!