Dropbox Syncing - Windows 3.5.7
This tutorial will walk you through the steps of setting up the Dropbox sync feature in mSecure. First, we’ll create a new Dropbox account, then we will go through the process of syncing your data with this new account using mSecure on a Windows computer. Let’s get started.
IMPORTANT: Version 3.5.6 is required to sync via Dropbox. mSecure 5 will not sync with the previous version.
Setting up Your Dropbox Account
If you already have a Dropbox account, you can move on to the next step. If you don’t already have an account, open the web browser on your PC, and go to dropbox.com/register. Enter your basic account credentials, and create the account.
NOTE: You DO NOT have to install the Dropbox app on your computer to use Dropbox syncing in mSecure.
Sync Preferences
After opening mSecure, click on Edit > Preferences in the menu bar at the top of the app. Click on the “Cloud Sync” tab, then click on the drop down element just underneath the tabs in the preferences window.
Sync with Dropbox
After clicking on the drop down, you will see three options. Select the “Sync with Dropbox” option.
Setting up Your Dropbox Account
After clicking on the “Sync with Dropbox” option, mSecure will open your computer’s default web browser where you will be able to authorize mSecure to link with your Dropbox account.
If you are not currently signed in to your Dropbox account, simply enter your Dropbox credentials, and click on the “Sign in” button, then you will be asked to allow mSecure access to your Dropbox files and folders.
Allow mSecure access to Dropbox
If you were already logged into your Dropbox account, then the only window you will see is the one in the screenshot below. If you set up a new Dropbox account in the first step of this tutorial, you will most likely already be signed in, so you can simply click on the “Allow” button.
Set New Cloud Sync Password
If this is the first device on which you are setting up the Dropbox sync feature, you will be prompted to create a new cloud sync password, which will be explained shortly. If you have already set up the Dropbox sync feature on another device, then you should already have a cloud sync password, and you can move on to the next step named, “Set Existing Cloud Sync Password”.
Two passwords are necessary when you are syncing your data via Dropbox. There is the login password that you use to login to mSecure, and this password is used to encrypt and decrypt your data stored locally on the device. There is also a cloud sync password that is used to encrypt and decrypt the data in the mSecure sync file stored in your Dropbox account. Each device running mSecure must be using the same cloud sync password in order to be authorized to sync in the information stored in that sync file.
The reason there is a cloud sync password as well as the login password is because some customers wish to have a very strong password protecting their data stored in their cloud account. They want to be able to set a very long and random password to encrypt the information stored in the sync file in their Dropbox account, and this password would be extremely difficult for them to enter into mSecure every time they open the app. With the two different passwords, they can have a strong, but more memorable, password to login to mSecure multiple times a day, and they can also have an extremely strong password protecting the information stored in their Dropbox account.
Though the cloud sync password can be different than your login password, it can also be the same. If you happen to be using the Dropbox sync feature for more of a backup type feature, then we recommend using your login password during this step, because if you forget your cloud sync password, the data stored in your Dropbox account will be lost. Since there is no way to access the encrypted data stored in your Dropbox account if the cloud sync password is forgotten, we do not recommend using Dropbox syncing as your only method of backing up your mSecure information.
Go ahead and set your cloud sync password, then click on the “OK” button to continue.
Set Existing Cloud Sync Password
If you have already set up the Dropbox sync feature in mSecure on another device, then you will be prompted to set the cloud sync password that you created in your other mSecure app. If you don’t know your existing cloud sync password, and if you are using either the iOS or Android version of mSecure, you can use the Sync via Dropbox on iOS or Android tutorials to retrieve your cloud sync password in mSecure on your mobile device.
After you have entered your cloud sync password, click on the “OK” button to continue.
Cloud Sync Preferences after Completing the Sync Setup
After you have set your cloud sync password, you will be taken back to the Cloud Sync settings in mSecure’s Preferences window. Now you will see the “Change Password” button, and the “Auto-sync” setting. If you would like to change your cloud sync password, you can do so by clicking the “Change Password” button. By default, after you set up the Dropbox sync feature, the “Auto-sync” option will be turned on. To turn that off at any time, you can open these settings, then uncheck the “Auto-sync” checkbox.
Your cloud sync password is also displayed in this screen. Should you ever need to retrieve that password, you can do so by opening mSecure’s preferences, and clicking on the “Cloud Sync” tab.
Go ahead and click on the “OK” button to accept any changes and dismiss the “mSecure Preferences” window.
Active Sync Button in the Main View
Once the sync setup is complete, the sync button in the main view of mSecure will now be active. This button can be used to perform a manual sync of your data. Since the addition of the “Auto-Sync” feature, this button is rarely used because a sync is always triggered within 30 seconds of the last change you made to your data. Any time you add, edit or delete a group, type or record, the auto-sync feature will be triggered.
One possible use for the sync button is if you make a quick change to your database, but you need to close the app very quickly. At this time, mSecure for Windows is not able to perform a sync when it is closed, so some of our customers perform a manual sync before closing the app after making a change to their data.
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