Guide on How to Share a Dropbox Folder
Dropbox makes it simple to create and share folders with friends, family, and co-workers. This may be accomplished fast and quickly by simply sending a link to a folder full of files to the recipient. This can also be done through different methods as well.
Let’s get started on learning how to share a folder on Dropbox.
Sharing a Dropbox folder is a common practice due to a number of reasons, some of these include:
- Folders may be readily accessed by your team when they are shared. You have the option of allowing them to edit or just see. Every update you make to the shared folder is immediately reflected across your organization.
- By sharing a folder on Dropbox, your team can store all of their data in one location. Additionally, having easy access to shared files enables your team to communicate at any time and from anywhere.
- The recipient does not need to create an account before viewing files sent to them.
We have a separate guide if you need to share a file from Dropbox.
With Dropbox, you don’t have to copy files from Dropbox to make them shareable. You can allow recipients to review or make modifications to the files you share with them. If you’re a member of a Dropbox Business team and share a folder with your co-workers, the folder is instantly added to each team member’s Dropbox account.
When sharing a folder with another Dropbox user who isn’t part of this plan, the user must manually add the folder to their Dropbox account.
Sharing folders works differently depending on whether you use Dropbox web, desktop, or mobile app. To share a folder on Dropbox, log in to your Dropbox account in the respective client and follow the steps we’ll describe in the following chapters.
- In Dropbox, navigate to the folder you’d like to share.
- You can then either:
- Click on the share icon or,
- Click the three-dots … to show a drop-down list containing the share icon, then click on share with Dropbox.
- On the dialog box, send an invite to the person you want to share the folder with by adding the person’s (or group’s) email address, name, or other contact information in the placeholder.
- From the drop-down, select can edit or can view.
- If you give can edit access the recipient can modify files in the shared folder. If you give a can view access then the recipient can view and comment on files in the shared folder, but can not modify files in the shared folder.
- If you wish, you can write a note.
- Click on the Share folder button.
The recipient will see a notification about the folder shared. The shared folder will appear on the recipient’s Shared tab of the Dropbox menu.
They will need to click Add to Dropbox in order to use the folder.
Alternatively, you can also click on the Copy link as seen in the image above. The link will be copied to your clipboard. You can then paste it into an email, message, or wherever people can access it.
- Open Dropbox, right-click on your folder.
- Click Copy Dropbox link or click on Share.
- On the dialog box, send an invite to the person you want to share the folder with by adding the person’s (or group’s) email address, name, or other contact information in the placeholder
- From the drop-down, select can edit or can view.
- If you give can edit access the recipient can modify files in the shared folder. If you give a can view access then the recipient can view and comment on files in the shared folder, but can not modify files in the shared folder.
- If you wish, you can write a note.
- Click Share.
The recipient will see a notification about the folder shared.
- In Dropbox, navigate to the file you want to share and click on the hamburger menu on Android or the three horizontal dots on iPhone/iPad.
- Click on Share.
- Send an invite to the person you want to share the folder with by adding the person’s (or group’s) email address, name, or other contact information in the placeholder.
- Select Can edit, or Can view.
- If you give can edit access the recipient can modify files in the shared folder. If you give a can view access then the recipient can view and comment on files in the shared folder, but can not modify files in the shared folder.
- If you wish, you can write a note.
- Click Share.
The recipient will see a notification about the folder shared. The shared folder will appear on the recipient’s Shared tab of the Dropbox menu.
They will need to click Add to Dropbox in order to use the folder.
How to sync files from Dropbox into a spreadsheet
If you have different files with data in a Dropbox folder, you may want to access this data to create reports, dashboards, etc. Rather than share your folder link with another account, you can pick particular files and import their contents into a spreadsheet or data warehouse. A popular way of doing so is with Coupler.io.
Coupler.io is a tool for importing data from different apps, such as Pipedrive, Airtable, QuickBooks, or Dropbox. The data is synced between apps automatically, on a schedule you choose. The available destinations include Google Sheets, Excel, and BigQuery.
Coupler.io won’t fetch an entire folder from Dropbox but it can parse any .csv and .xlsx files in your account and import any of their content, as often as you would like it to. Let’s now have a look at how this works in practice.
- For starters, create a Coupler.io account.
- Click Add new importer and choose the source and destination apps. We’ll go with Dropbox as a source and Excel as a destination.
Alternatively you can connect Dropbox to BigQuery or import data from Dropbox to Google Sheets.
- Connect your Dropbox account and then select the file you want to fetch. If it’s a shared file, make sure it’s added to your Dropbox before you proceed.
- Now, set up a destination. In the case of Excel, select your OneDrive or SharePoint account and specify the workbook and worksheet for your import.
- As the last step, decide on the schedule for the automatic data refresh. It will keep your data fresh, as any changes made to the source file will be updated in the destination file with each new refresh.
- Finally, hit the Save and run button to export Dropbox data and launch the importer.
Dropbox allows you to share your folder with anyone including non-Dropbox users. Non-Dropbox users can see and download files that you have shared with them through a link called the shared link. Additionally, you can utilize Dropbox’s file request functionality to ask someone who does not have a Dropbox account to submit files directly to your shared folder.
The link can be shared through different mediums: through email, Facebook, Twitter etc. By default, shared links are on view-only, allowing anybody with the link to see and download the content. To change this to edit access to allow anyone with or without a Dropbox account to edit the folder, you’ll need to upgrade to Dropbox Professional to enable all link settings.
Upgrading also gives access to other link settings such as adding passwords and expiry dates, which add an extra layer of security to protect the information stored in your Dropbox folder.
There are two ways to share a Dropbox folder with a link on the Dropbox website:
First method
- In Dropbox, navigate to the folder you’d like to share and click on Copy link.
- The link is copied to your clipboard. You can then paste it into an email, message, or wherever people can access it.
Second method
- Navigate to the folder you want to share and click on the share icon.
- On the dialog box, click on Create and Copy link.
- The link will be copied to your clipboard. You can then paste it into an email, message, or wherever people can access it.
- Right-click on the folder you want to share.
- Click on Share and do this
- Click on Create link to have a link created.
- Click Copy link.
- The link is copied to your clipboard. You can then paste it into an email, message, or wherever people can access it.
- Navigate to the file you want to share and click on three dots.
- Click on Share.
- At the bottom of the page, Click on Anyone with the link can view the folder to copy the link.
- The link is copied to your clipboard. You can then paste it into an email, message, or wherever people can access it.
Note: You can manage your link permissions by clicking the settings icon (gear icon) in both the web and mobile app or on link settings in the desktop app.
Similarly, you can send a Dropbox folder to a recipient by email. To do so, follow these steps:
- Navigate to the folder you wish to share and click the Share icon.
- Enter the email address of the person you wish to share the folder with.
- According to your needs, select either Can edit or Can view from the dropdown.
- If you wish you can add a message.
- Share the folder by clicking Share.
This process is the same whether you use a web, desktop, or mobile app.
To share a Dropbox folder with anyone can be done by inviting them right from the folder you’d like them to have access to. In order for recipients to see and make changes to your folders and files, they’ll need a Dropbox account. This happens when files are made available to others via a shared folder. Members of a shared folder are notified of any changes made to the folder’s contents.
To simultaneously share a folder with a large number of recipients.
- Navigate to the folder and click the share icon.
- Enter the name of the group you’d like to share with.
- Click the Share button
- All group members will be notified and invited to the folder.
This process looks identical for all Dropbox clients.
Alternatively, you can create a shared link and copy and paste it into an email, message, or wherever people can access it.
How to stop sharing a Dropbox folder
Now that we have seen how to share a folder, you may choose not to share your folder for a number of reasons, such as personal privacy concerns.
Check out the following steps to stop sharing a Dropbox folder on the Dropbox website, desktop, and mobile app.
How to stop sharing a Dropbox folder in the web client
- Navigate to the Shared tab of the menu, you can access this in the section on the right-hand nav
- Click the … and then Share
- Click on the gear icon (Settings)
- On the dialog box, we have folder settings and links for viewing.
- In the bottom-left corner, click on Unshare Folder
- Click on Unshare. Everyone will be removed from the folder. You have the option of letting members keep a copy of the shared folder or not.
How to stop sharing a Dropbox folder in the desktop app
- Navigate to the folder you want to stop sharing and click on Share
- Click on Link settings
- Click on Delete link
- Click on Delete. The link will no longer work for whoever has it.
How to stop sharing a Dropbox folder in the mobile app
- Navigate to the folder you want to stop sharing and click on manage access.
- Click on the Unshare at the bottom.
- Choose if you want removed members to keep a copy of the shared folder.
And that’s it! We have gone through the various ways you can share your Dropbox folder, Dropbox is fun and I hope that you get to try these out.
Sharing a Dropbox folder – Sum Up
As a wrap-up, Dropbox is a tool that allows one to be organized by having all the files and folders in one place and we have gone through the various different ways you can share your Dropbox folder.
If you have data in Dropbox folders or files that you’d want to export as spreadsheets then you should consider Coupler.io. As Coupler.io integration with Dropbox is simple and takes just a few minutes. Dropbox is fun and I hope you get to make use of and try these out!
