Can I store my Readerware database in a Dropbox folder or cloud drive?
Last Updated: March 20, 2020
Keywords: dropbox, database, corruption, cloud, cloud drive, Google Drive, OneDrive
NO!
You should not store a Readerware database in a Dropbox folder, Dropbox can corrupt your Readerware database and cause you to lose data. This is a common issue with database applications like Readerware. Dropbox is a file synchronization and sharing service, you store files in your Dropbox folder and they are automatically copied between devices and synchronized. The problem is that Dropbox does not understand complex data structures like a database and can end up corrupting the database when it tries to sync a database file.
Dropbox is not a file backup service. If you are looking for a way to backup your Readerware databases automatically there are many online backup services. These are safe to use as all they are doing is copying your database files. A synchronization service like Dropbox is not safe to use as it tries to update your files.
This applies to all cloud drives, not just Dropbox, you should not store your database on a cloud drive.