Getting your account set up
Dropbox team accounts make it easy for teams to safely share and collaborate, no matter where you are, or what device you're using.
13 minute read
Set yourself up for success
Now that you’ve been invited to your Dropbox account, you’re one step away from accessing its collaborative and organizational powers.
You're invited
When your team joins Dropbox, your Dropbox team account admin can and may send you an invite to join the team.
Dropbox team accounts have one or more admins in their organization who manage the security, integration, and sharing settings for their team.
All you need to do is accept the invitation via email to join. Then, you reach your first fork in the road: are you joining Dropbox as a new or existing user?
Are you new around here?
As you work through setting up your Dropbox team account, you’ll be asked if you’re setting it up as a new or existing user. Depending on which one applies to you, you’ll follow different steps to complete account set up.
New user
As a new user, setting up your account is easy. Just create an account with your work email address, set a password, and download the Dropbox desktop app.
Existing user
As an existing user, you just need to log in and then decide what to do with the existing files in your Dropbox account. You can either keep them in the account you already have, or move them into a new personal Dropbox account that your organization won’t have access to. If you choose to move them, you’ll need to use a different email address for your new personal Dropbox account and create a password for that account.
Heads-up: If you’re using your work email for Dropbox and your team’s admin has certain settings in place, you may get a web or desktop notification asking you to choose if you want to move your files. Your account will pause syncing until you make that choice.
Access your files from anywhere, anytime
Dropbox offers several different ways to conveniently access your files:
In the Dropbox mobile app
On the Dropbox website
While you can always access your files from any device connected to the internet using dropbox.com, installing and using the apps on your devices will help you get the most from Dropbox.
Learn about uploading and downloading files.
You can also securely back up your files and folders. Learn how to use Dropbox Backup.
With the Dropbox mobile app
Dropbox with File Explorer or Finder
Should I link my personal account?
Though it’s not required, connecting your personal and team Dropbox account is a convenient way to access all of your content. You can easily get to your work or personal files from all your linked devices, and you don’t need to worry about logging out and logging in multiple times.
Connecting both accounts keeps your personal content private. Your Dropbox admin won’t have access to it.
How to link a personal Dropbox account after installing the desktop app
How to log in on a new computer as a new user
How to link a personal Dropbox to an existing computer
Shout out to SSO
If your admin enables SSO, or single sign-on, you can access Dropbox in the same way you access other applications at work: by entering your SSO password on your team's log in page.
When you need to log in to dropbox.com, type in your email address and click Continue. You’ll arrive at your team's log in page where you can enter your SSO password for work.
On your computer, you only need to log in to Dropbox once. Once you log in with SSO on desktop, you're good to go.
Make your Dropbox account your own
Now that you’ve got your Dropbox team account set up, make it your own by personalizing your settings.
Perfect your profile
Your profile is where you can find your email address, username, and optional profile photo. If you want to change any of that information, log in to dropbox.com, click your avatar (profile picture or initials) in the upper-right corner, and click Settings.
Change your username or profile photo and link a personal account under the General tab. To change your password, click the Security tab.
Update notification settings
Dropbox sends you email notifications to let you know what’s changing in your account, which can be really helpful. But sometimes, you just don’t want so many emails in your inbox, which is understandable.
You can review your email notification settings by logging in to dropbox.com. Click your avatar (profile picture or initials) in the upper-right corner, click Settings, and click the Notifications tab.
From there, uncheck boxes next to the notifications you don’t want to receive anymore.
Link or unlink devices
We all use different devices for work, and managing those devices with your Dropbox team account can be done in one place.
To connect a device, just download the Dropbox app to that device and log in. Everything will start syncing.
When you unlink a device to your account, files and folders won’t be synced. It’s as if you simply turn off Dropbox for that device.
If you want to unlink a device:
Log in to dropbox.com.
Click your avatar (profile picture or initials).
Click Settings.
Click the Security tab.
Your devices are listed under Devices.
Click the trash can icon next to the device you’d like to log out of remotely.
Check the box next to Delete files from [account name] Dropbox the next time this computer comes online if you’d like to remotely delete your files from your device too.
Click Unlink.
Enable 2-factor authentication
2-factor authentication is an optional but recommended security feature that your Dropbox admin may have enabled. If your team isn’t using SSO, the admin may enable 2-factor authentication which requires you to enter a six-digit security code along with your password.
Common questions
Got a question about setting up your account? We’ve likely got an answer. If you have a question that’s not listed here, check our help center for more answers.