Search and find answers

Dropbox Dash uses natural language processing (NLP) to understand your searches like a colleague would—grasping intent, not just keywords. Over time, it learns from your searches to refine results based on context and preferences, while built-in access controls ensure you only see what you’re authorized to view.

Best practices for using search effectively

• Ask questions or use keywords, and be specific. This helps narrow down results and increases the chances of finding relevant information quickly.

• Use filters to refine your search results. This can include filtering by date, file type, or platform.

• Regularly update your knowledge base. Make sure that the documents and files you frequently use are up to date. This will improve the accuracy of search results and help team members find the most relevant information.

• Use your search history to revisit previous queries and results. This can save time and help you track down information you may need again.

Pro tips

• Admins:

  • Add at least three apps for better search results—the more you add, the more relevant insights you’ll get. For example, consider adding OneDrive, Google Calendar, and Gmail.

  • Create groups in the native apps for permissions based on departments or project teams.

  • Regularly audit and adjust access levels to align with current needs.

  • Implement tiered access to for sensitive information to restrict access appropriately.

• Members:

  • Use personal filters to focus on your connected content.

Summarize long documents

Summarize is an AI-powered feature that allows you to quickly get an overview of lengthy documents or discussions.

How it works

Find the document you want to summarize using the search bar or in your Activity feed.

When you’ve found it, select (twinkle) Summarize and ask next to its title.

This will generate a concise summary of the content, highlighting key points and essential information.

Note: If there’s a specific document you want summarized, you can also go to Assistant, upload or choose the file, and type in a prompt asking to summarize that file.

How to use Answers

The Answers feature is designed to provide quick responses to specific questions by searching across the content available in your apps and documents. For example, if you have a narrative on company strategy for the year stored in Confluence, and you’ve added the Confluence app, Dash can pull information from that document to answer related questions.

Here’s how to use it:

1. Enter your query in the search bar.

2. An answer may appear in the Answers panel on the right, depending on the documents in your apps.

3. If the answer isn’t satisfactory, you can:

   • Rephrase your question or add more context to refine the search results.

   • Use the thumbs up or thumbs down buttons to provide feedback on the relevance of the results. This feedback helps improve future accuracy.

4. Continue adjusting your query until you find the information you need.