I have Scrivener 3 on my Windows 10 PC and a second version of Scrivener 3 on my Windows 11 laptop. I also have a version of Dropbox on my PC and on my laptop.
I want to use Scrivener on my PC at home but on my laptop when on the go.
My Scrivener on my laptop is empty, no project in it. What I am writing is on the PC only (and hopefully backed up in Dropbox).
On my PC, in Dropbox, I can see my folder that I named Scrivener backup file 2025 novel. Inside of the folder I see my work that I do in Scrivener on my PC.
On my laptop, in Dropbox, I can see my folder that I named Scrivener backup file 2025 novel. Inside of the folder I see my work that I do in Scrivener on my PC.
When open my laptop and open Scrivener there, there is no project in it.
Here are my questions: When try to sync the files with my laptop is this a new project or a recent project on Scrivener?
I tried to open my Dropbox files that contain my Scrivener back up files but Scrivener doesn’t seem to see or accept this folder. The files that I saved in Dropbox have a .bak zip and not a .scriv extention.
I’m confused. Please give me some guidance. Thanks!
That’s the problem. You are sharing Scrivener’s automatic backup files, not the live project.
In the Dropbox folder on the PC, create a new subfolder. Call it something like Active Projects.
On the PC, open the project in Scrivener and use the File → Save As command to save a copy of the project in the Active Projects folder you just created. Close Scrivener.
Allow Dropbox to synchronize on both systems. The Active Projects folder should appear on the laptop, and the project should be in it.
In Scrivener on the laptop, use the File → Open command to locate the project and open it. Does it open successfully?
Just to be clear, in most cases you want to use “Save.” “Save As” creates a new copy of the project and continues working in the copy. Which is what you wanted in this case.
However, it’s unfortunately pretty common for people to use “Save As” to “create a backup,” then go back to the original version and find that changes are “missing” because they were actually made in the new copy. For backups or any other situation where you don’t want to keep working in the copy, use the File → Backup command.
It’s also good practice to give every new copy you create a distinct name so that you can identify it later.
