All Sync Guides
Sync Guide

Dropbox to OneDrive: Copy, Move, or Sync Your Files the Easy Way

Learn how to transfer files from Dropbox to OneDrive on macOS — three methods: manual web upload/download, OurClone's Migrate tool, and the rclone command line.

Overview

If you're already paying for Microsoft 365, the 1 TB of OneDrive that comes with it makes a separate Dropbox subscription hard to justify. This guide shows three ways to move your files from Dropbox to OneDrive on a Mac — a quick manual copy, OurClone's local Migrate engine, and the rclone command line.

Reasons to Migrate from Dropbox to OneDrive

The most common driver is the Microsoft 365 bundle. Once you're paying for Office anyway, the included 1 TB of OneDrive is essentially free storage — so keeping a paid Dropbox plan on the side feels like double-paying for space you already have.

  • 🎁 OneDrive Comes Free with Microsoft 365 — A Personal plan bundles 1 TB and Family shares up to 6 TB. If you already subscribe for Word and Excel, that storage is sitting there unused.
  • 🏢 You Live in Office — Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files open and co-author natively from OneDrive, with no export-import dance.
  • 🪟 Built into Windows — If you also use a Windows PC, OneDrive is wired straight into File Explorer, no extra app required.
  • 💳 Cut a Redundant Subscription — Dropbox's smallest paid plan is 2 TB; consolidating onto OneDrive you already pay for trims a recurring bill.

Dropbox and OneDrive, Side by Side

They're both mature, reliable clouds — but one is a focused sync tool and the other is an Office companion. The differences matter when you decide what to move.

🗃️ Dropbox

Dropbox is the gold standard for fast, dependable file sync.

  • 2 GB free on Basic; 2 TB on Plus and 3 TB on Professional.
  • Block-level sync uploads only the changed chunks of a file.
  • Long version history and easy shared links with granular controls.
  • A huge catalog of third-party app integrations.

📘 OneDrive

OneDrive is Microsoft's storage layer, deeply tied to Office and Windows.

  • 5 GB free; 1 TB with Microsoft 365 Personal and up to 6 TB with Family.
  • Real-time co-authoring in Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.
  • Personal Vault for sensitive documents and Files On-Demand to save disk.
  • Rejects file names containing " * : < > ? / \ | — worth checking before you move.

Method 1: Download from Dropbox and Upload to OneDrive by Hand

No tools required — just use your Mac as the go-between. Reasonable for a few folders, painful for a whole account.

  1. 📥 Download from Dropbox — Sign in to the Dropbox web app, select what you want, and download it into a folder like ~/Downloads/dropbox-export. Folders come down as a zip.
    2. Download files from Dropbox web interface
  2. 📤 Upload to OneDrive — Open the OneDrive web app, unzip if needed, and drag the files into the destination folder. Rename anything with characters OneDrive won't accept.
    3. Upload files to OneDrive web interface

It gets small jobs done, but there's no resume, your Mac holds a duplicate copy in the middle, and large Dropbox zips often fail. Method 2 avoids all three.

Method 2: Transfer Dropbox to OneDrive with OurClone

OurClone moves your files from Dropbox to OneDrive directly on your Mac, with live progress and no third-party relay. The flow is three steps: add the source, add the target, run the migration.

  • 🔗 Step 1: Add Dropbox as the Source (Browser Sign-In) — In OurClone open Add Storage and pick Dropbox. A browser window opens — sign in and authorize OurClone. Dropbox then appears in your storage list.
    • Add Dropbox to OurClone
  • 🔗 Step 2: Add OneDrive as the Destination (Browser Sign-In) — Still in Add Storage, pick OneDrive and sign in to your Microsoft account in the browser. OneDrive joins Dropbox in your storage list. (Business accounts may need admin approval for third-party apps.)
    • Add OneDrive to OurClone
  • 🔀 Step 3: Set Source, Target and Mode on the Migrate Page — Open the Migrate tab. Pick Dropbox and browse to the files or folder to move, then pick OneDrive and choose (or create) the destination. Select a transfer mode:
    • Copy — duplicates files to OneDrive; nothing is deleted from Dropbox.
    • Move — transfers to OneDrive, then deletes the originals from Dropbox.
    • Sync — makes OneDrive mirror Dropbox; extra files in OneDrive are removed, but Dropbox is left untouched.
    Click Migrate to start.
    • Configure Source, Target and transfer mode in OurClone Migrate
  • 📊 Watch Progress and Confirm — The Task panel shows live counts, speed, ETA, and failed files. When it reads completed, open OneDrive in OurClone (or at onedrive.live.com) to confirm. If you chose Move, check that Dropbox no longer holds the files.
    • Monitor transfer progress in OurClone Task panel

Since the job runs locally and respects the mode you pick, you stay in control of whether Dropbox keeps its copy — and interrupted transfers resume rather than restart.

Method 3: Transfer Dropbox to OneDrive with rclone (Command Line)

OurClone is powered by rclone, so if the terminal is home turf you can run the Dropbox-to-OneDrive move yourself — perfect for automation or headless machines.

Step 1: Install rclone

Get it from the official downloads page, or brew install rclone on macOS.

Step 2: Configure both remotes

Run rclone config and add a remote for Dropbox and one for OneDrive. Both use OAuth — rclone opens a browser for each sign-in. Name them dropbox and onedrive.

Step 3: Run the transfer

Match the verb to OurClone's modes:

# Copy — keep Dropbox intact
rclone copy dropbox:Work onedrive:Work --progress

# Move — delete the Dropbox originals after transfer
rclone move dropbox:Work onedrive:Work --progress

# Sync — make OneDrive mirror Dropbox (deletes extras in OneDrive)
rclone sync dropbox:Work onedrive:Work --progress

For instance, rclone copy dropbox:Photos onedrive:Photos --progress copies your Photos folder into OneDrive and leaves Dropbox alone.

Caveats

  • ⚠️ sync and move delete files — check the direction and run --dry-run first.
  • ⚠️ No GUI; everything is terminal output.
  • ⚠️ You configure each remote's OAuth by hand — the friction OurClone removes for you.

Common Dropbox → OneDrive Snags

Keep an eye out for these when moving between Dropbox and OneDrive.

  • 🔡 Illegal file names — OneDrive rejects names with " * : < > ? / \ |. Files allowed in Dropbox can fail here; the Task panel flags them so you can rename and retry.
  • 🐢 Web zips time out — Big Dropbox folder downloads and OneDrive uploads strain the browser route. OurClone and rclone stream each file with resume.
  • ⏳ Microsoft Graph throttling — OneDrive rate-limits heavy transfers. OurClone backs off and retries so the migration keeps progressing.
  • 🔐 Expired authorization — Password changes or security policies can revoke a token mid-transfer. Re-authorize under Add Storage and resume.
  • 📄 Dropbox Paper won't move as docs — Paper files aren't standard documents; export them from Dropbox before transferring if you still need them.

Will this remove files from Dropbox?

Only if you pick Move. Copy leaves Dropbox untouched, and Sync only deletes extra files on the OneDrive side.

Summary

You can move files from Dropbox to OneDrive by hand through the web, with OurClone's Copy/Move/Sync Migrate engine, or with rclone in a terminal. OurClone runs the transfer locally with live progress — Copy keeps your Dropbox files, Move deletes them after transfer, and Sync makes OneDrive mirror Dropbox.

Questions? [email protected]
↑ Back to Top