How do I share and collaborate with my team?

Dropbox business can help you, your coworkers, and clients collaborate and stay on top of projects. All without stressing about file sizes, version mix-ups, and lost feedback. Collaboration just got a whole lot easier.

10 minute read

The new and improved way to work together

Working with your team members on projects big and small just got easier and more delightful.

Keep all your files and folders organized

No matter how you get work done, Dropbox helps you organize your files with different folder types and collaborative options.

Each method has its own distinct advantages, depending on what you want to do.

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Private folders

You can tell that a folder is private if the front of it is blank. A private folder works like any other folder: You can move it, rename it, add stuff to it, or delete it.

Note: Only you (and your team admins) can access what’s inside a private folder in your Dropbox business account.

If you invite someone to that folder, then it’s no longer private.

Shared folders

Shared folders have an icon of people on the front of the folder.

Sharing folders allows others to review and edit your files. All collaborators need a Dropbox account to edit or review. Sharing folders means that the person sees every file or image in that folder.

You can also rename a shared folder, and it will only change for you. That way, if you receive a shared folder invite for “Sales,” but already have two other folders labelled Sales, you can change it to “Midwestern Sales” without causing confusion for anyone else.

However, if you change a subfolder, that folder’s name change will reflect for everyone else.

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Team folders

Team folders are configured by IT admins and often hold company-managed content. Team folders are like shared folders, but the team admin manages who can access this folder. How can you tell it’s a team folder? There’s a building icon on the folder.

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Team spaces

Team spaces are shared workspaces that everyone on the team has access to. The shared workspace functions like a shared drive for the whole team, meaning that it has the same folder structure for all team members. But that doesn’t mean every team member can see everything within those folders – anyone on the team can add or remove anyone from any folder they can edit.

Groups

Team members can create user-managed groups if their admin allows it:

Sign in to dropbox.com.
Click your team name at the bottom left of the page.
Click the button by your team name: Groups and members.
Click Create group.
Enter a name for your group.

This is the name all team members will see. As the group manager, you can change the group's name at any time.

Click Create group.

Learn more about how to add and remove members from a group

Sharing on your own terms

With Dropbox, you can pick and choose how you share your most important files and folders.

If you need your team to give feedback on your work, you can give them edit access to your shared folder. But if you don’t want others to edit your work, you can share links instead, which will give them view-only access.

And you never have to worry about the safety of your files. You can share files securely by giving only certain people access to your file (this is called “authenticated sharing”). This limits who recipients can share those files with and it means they’ll have to sign in to view your file.

With all of these options available, you can share your own way, on your own terms.

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Add your own branding

If your admin allows it, you can use branded sharing to add your organization’s name and logo to files and folders you share outside the team. When you send shared links or direct sharing invitations, recipients will see the branding elements you’ve added to your account settings.

How to set up branded sharing

Sign in to dropbox.com.
Click your avatar (profile picture or initials) in the top-right corner.
Click Settings.
Click the Branding tab.
Click Set up branding next to Brand name and logo to add your logo and the name of your company or brand.
Click Choose image next to Background image to select a background image, if you like.

It’s even retroactive, so once your admin enables this feature, the logo will show up on all shared links that are shared outside of your team.

If you’ve paired your Dropbox work and personal accounts, don’t worry—custom branding will only be added to your work files. Shared links on your personal Dropbox won’t be affected.

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Sharing a folder

To share a folder in the Dropbox folder on your computer, right-click the folder and then click Share.

To share from the Dropbox desktop app:

Select the folder.
Click the “…” (ellipses) in the upper right corner.
From the menu, click Share.
Select Permissions.

Selecting “Can edit” gives that person the ability to edit, delete, comment, and add content to the folder. Can view means the person you share with can only view, comment on, or download content.

Keep in mind that the URL at the top of your browser isn’t a shared link. Sending that URL won’t work.

Want to use dropbox.com to share? No worries:

Sign in to dropbox.com.
Hover over the folder that you want to share.
Select the Share button that appears.
Enter the email of the person you want to share with, and set permissions.

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Sharing a file

To share a file in the Dropbox folder on your computer, right-click the file and then click Share.

To share a file using the Dropbox desktop app:

Select the file.
Click the “…” (ellipses) in the top right corner.
Click Share. You can also right-click the file and then select Share.
Enter the email of the person you want to share the file with.
Add any comments, and adjust settings with the button to the right of the email.
Click the Share button, and you’re done.

If you’re using dropbox.com:

Sign in to dropbox.com.
Hover over the folder that you want to share.
Click the share icon that appears.
Enter the email of the person you want to share with, and set permissions.

Share view-only access with shared files or links

If you need someone to be able to see your files but not edit them, you can use Dropbox to share in two ways. You can invite people directly from a file or folder, or create a unique link to them instead, then send via email or your favorite messaging app.

When you invite someone directly with view-only permissions, the recipient will receive an email with a link to your content. They will have access to the file or folder in their own Dropbox account, but they can’t edit the content. For added security, you can change permissions or make the item private again.

When you share with a view-only link, recipients can see a preview of the file or folder on dropbox.com, and can view or download the content—even if they don’t have a Dropbox account.

Authenticated sharing

Authenticated sharing allows you to share sensitive documents securely since recipients are limited in their ability to further share documents. All the people you share with need a Dropbox account to view or download that document.

The file is only available for the specific names or email addresses you’ve invited to the file.

Dropbox business admins can also manage sharing settings to prevent documents from being viewed by unauthorized users.