Share
In this module, you will learn the different ways to share content using Dropbox, and how to choose the right option for your needs. You’ll see how to share files and folders with specific people, create shared links for viewing or downloading, and manage access once something is shared. The module also covers tools for one-way sharing and file collection, including Dropbox Transfer and file requests. By the end, you’ll understand when to use each sharing method, what level of access it gives others, and how to stay in control of your content after it’s been shared.
10 minute read
How to share files or folders in Dropbox
You’ve finished working on a file or folder and now someone else needs access to it. Maybe you’re inviting a teammate to collaborate, or sharing a folder so a project can move forward.
Before you share, it helps to think about what you want the other person to do: edit, comment, or just view. People you invite directly will need to sign in to Dropbox. The steps below show how to share files and folders in Dropbox while choosing the right level of access from the start.
Share a file or folder with specific people on dropbox.com
Log in to dropbox.com.
Hover over the file or folder you want to share, then click Share.
Click Add people.
In the To field, type the email, name, or group you want to share with, then select them from the results.
Choose Can edit to allow changes, or Can view to allow viewing and commenting only.
Add a message if you’d like.
Click Share file or Share folder.
People you invite receive an email and see the shared item in their Dropbox once they accept. Changes inside a shared folder sync for everyone who has access.
Share a file or folder with specific people from the desktop app
Open the Dropbox folder in File Explorer (Windows) or Finder(Mac).
Right click the file or folder you want to share.
Click Share… next to the Dropbox icon.
Enter the email, name, or group you want to share with.
Choose Can edit or Can view.
Add a message if you’d like.
Click Share file or Share folder.
Can I share a subfolder inside a shared folder?
You might keep a main shared project folder for internal work, but only want to share one subfolder with a client or partner. For example, you might share a Client handoffs subfolder without exposing your planning documents in the parent folder.
What you can share depends on your access level and your plan:
Owner of the parent shared folder: You can share any subfolder.
Edit access: You may be able to share a subfolder if the owner allows editors to share.
View access: You can’t invite people directly, but you can share a view-only link.
Dropbox Family plans: Some subfolders can’t be shared directly and require shared links instead.
If inviting people isn’t available, create a shared link for the subfolder.
How to join a shared folder
If someone invites you to a shared folder, joining it adds the folder to your Dropbox account so you can access it from web, desktop, and mobile.
Shared folder invites arrive by email and as notifications in Dropbox. You can also accept an invite directly from the notification bell on dropbox.com.
Join a shared folder on dropbox.com
Log in to dropbox.com.
Click Home in the left navigation.
Click Shared in the left sidebar.
Find the folder you were invited to.
Hover over it, then click Join folder.
How to add a shared file to your account
Sometimes you are invited to a single file rather than a whole folder, for example a contract, a PDF, or a presentation.
You can open a shared file from:
The email invite you receive.
The notification bell on dropbox.com.
The Shared section in the mobile app.
On dropbox.com:
Log in to dropbox.com.
Click Home, then click Shared in the left sidebar.
Click the Files tab to see shared files.
Click a file to preview it.
Shared files you are invited to don’t take up space in your account unless you save a copy into your own Dropbox. Files that are only shared by link don’t appear on the Shared page until you add them to your Dropbox.
How to request access to a shared folder on Dropbox
If you open a shared folder link and see a Request access screen instead of the folder contents, it usually means the owner didn’t add your account when they first shared it.
To request access:
Click the shared folder link you received.
Click Request access.
If you have more than one Dropbox account, choose the account you want to use.
Your request is sent to the folder owner. You will be notified when they approve or decline it.
Share with someone who doesn’t have a Dropbox account
If you need to send a file to someone who will not sign in, such as a client who just needs to download a deliverable, shared links are usually the best choice. A shared link opens as a preview on dropbox.com, and people without a Dropbox account can view and often download the content from a view only link.
Edit links require recipients to sign in with a Dropbox account. People who are not signed in cannot use edit permissions, even if they have the link.
Create a shared link on dropbox.com
Create a shared link from the desktop app
Create a shared link from the mobile app
How to stop sharing a file or folder with someone outside Dropbox
If you invited people directly to a shared item, you can remove one person or change their permissions from the Share settings.
You can also unshare a folder entirely if you want to stop sharing it with everyone.
On dropbox.com:
Log in to dropbox.com.
Click Shared in the left sidebar.
Find the file or folder with the link, then click Share.
In the link section, click the … ellipsis next to the link.
Click Delete view link or Delete edit link, then confirm.
If you shared a file or folder by inviting people directly, you manage access from the Share settings. From there, you can remove a single person, change their permissions, or unshare the folder entirely.
How do I see who is viewing my files?
When you send a proposal, a contract, or a draft, it is helpful to know whether people have opened it yet. Viewer info lets you see who is currently viewing a file, and on certain plans, when people last viewed it.
Viewer info is available to all Dropbox users on dropbox.com. It is usually enabled by default for files you own, and you can turn it on or off for individual items or for your entire account.
See who is viewing your file right now
On dropbox.com:
When someone is currently viewing a shared file, their avatar appears in color on the file preview. If you hover over it, you see a label such as Currently viewing.
People who have Can view or Can edit access but are not currently viewing the file appear as gray avatars next to the Share button.
See when someone last viewed your file
On some paid individual plans, you can also see when someone last viewed a file.
On dropbox.com:
Open the file in a preview.
Hover over a gray avatar to see when that person last viewed the file.
Where available, open full viewer history to see a list of people who viewed the file and when they did so.
Viewer history can include views from dropbox.com, the desktop app, and the mobile apps, as long as viewer info is enabled and people are signed in.
Control viewer info
In addition to seeing who has viewed your files, you can also control when viewer info is available. You can manage viewer info from your settings and at the item level:
For specific files and folders you own, open the Share dialog, go to Settings, and toggle Viewer info to On or Off.
For personal accounts, you can turn viewer info off for your account from Settings on dropbox.com, then enable it again for specific items if you want.
Some limits to keep in mind:
If someone only downloads a file through a shared link without previewing it on dropbox.com, they do not appear in viewer info.
Only the owner and people with Can edit access can see full file activity. People with Can view access cannot see viewer info for others.
Guests who open a shared link without signing in appear as Guests and do not see viewer info themselves.
These tools make it easier to understand who is engaging with your content, without leaving Dropbox.
Dropbox Transfer
Sometimes you do not want to invite someone into your folders, you just want to hand off a finished file. You might send a final video to a client, deliver a signed contract, or share a bundle of images that someone needs to download and store on their side. In those cases, it is useful to send a one way package that can expire on its own.
Dropbox Transfer is built for exactly that. It sends a copy of your files to someone using a download link, and your originals stay safely in your Dropbox account. The recipient does not need a Dropbox account to access the transfer, they just click the link and download.
How to create and send a transfer
You can create a transfer on dropbox.com, from the Dropbox desktop app, or from the mobile apps. The flow is similar across devices: choose content, adjust settings, and send the link or email.
Create a transfer on dropbox.com
Create a transfer from the desktop app
Create a transfer from the mobile apps
What are the size limits?
Every Dropbox plan includes Transfer, but the maximum size of a single transfer depends on your plan. For individual users, Dropbox Basic supports transfers up to 2 GB, Dropbox Plus and Dropbox Family support up to 50 GB per transfer, and Dropbox Professional, Essentials, and the Dropbox Transfer plan support up to 100 GB per transfer.
On team and advanced plans, Standard, Education, Advanced, and Business support transfers up to 100 GB, while Business Plus and Enterprise support transfers up to 250 GB. Customers who add the Dropbox Replay add on can send transfers up to 250 GB even on plans where the usual limit is 100 GB.
These limits apply to the total size of the transfer, not each file inside it. You can include many smaller files, or one large file, as long as the total stays within your plan limit.
When does a transfer expire?
Transfers are designed to be temporary. Every transfer has an expiration date, after which the link stops working and recipients can no longer download the files. Your original files stay in your Dropbox, so you can always create a new transfer later if you need to.
After a transfer expires, it isn’t deleted right away. Dropbox keeps expired transfers for a period of time before removing them from its servers. Once a transfer is deleted, it disappears from the Expired tab on dropbox.com and can’t be recovered, although the original files in your Dropbox are not affected.
If you need to cut off access earlier, you can delete a transfer yourself at any time. This immediately disables the link and removes it from your active list.
Note: Expiration and deletion timelines vary by plan. For exact limits and timelines, see the Dropbox Help Center article on Transfer.
How to view and manage transfers
As you use Transfer more often, it helps to know where to check what you’ve sent, see whether it’s been downloaded, and tidy up old transfers. On dropbox.com, all of this lives in one place.
How to open the Transfer page:
Log in to dropbox.com.
Click the grid icon in the left sidebar.
Click Transfer.
You will see three tabs: Sent, Received, and Expired. These give you a quick overview of the transfers you have created, the ones others have sent you, and those that are no longer active.
Manage transfers you have sent
Work with transfers you have received
Check expired transfers
What are file requests?
Sometimes you need to collect files from people without inviting them into your folders. You might be collecting receipts from clients, CVs from applicants, or large media files from a contractor. In those cases, you want a simple upload page and a single destination folder, not a shared workspace.
File requests in Dropbox give you exactly that. You create a request, choose a destination folder in your Dropbox account, and share a link or email with the people you want to collect files from. Anyone who has the request, even if they do not have a Dropbox account, can upload files through a simple page.
The destination folder is private by default, which means only you can see what is uploaded unless you decide to share that folder.
You create and manage file requests on dropbox.com. Once files arrive in the target folder, you can work with them from anywhere, including the desktop app and the mobile app, just like any other content in your Dropbox account.
How to create a file request
You create file requests on dropbox.com. After you set one up, you can open your destination folder from the desktop app or mobile app to see everything that has been uploaded.
Create a file request on dropbox.com
Log in to dropbox.com.
In the left sidebar, click File requests.
Click New request above the list.
Under Title, enter a clear name for your request, such as "Q4 invoices" or "Event photos." This title is also used for the folder name by default.
Under Description, add any details you want people to see, for example file types you expect, deadlines, or naming guidelines.
Under Folder for uploaded files, check the path for the new folder where uploads will go. If you want a different location, click Change folder, then choose another folder in your Dropbox.
On some plans, you can click Set naming conventions to apply an automated naming pattern for files that arrive in this folder.
If your plan supports it, turn on Set a deadline to choose a date and time when the request should stop accepting files. You can also decide whether to allow late uploads.
Add a password if you want to protect the request. If you use a password, remember to share it with your uploaders, for example in the description field or in a separate message.
Click Create.
In the sharing window, type the names or email addresses of the people you want to request files from, then click Share. Dropbox sends them an email with the upload page.
If you prefer to send the link yourself, click Copy next to Share a link instead, then paste the link into an email, chat, or document.
If you are on a team plan that uses Email to Dropbox, you may also see an option to copy a special email address instead of a link. Attachments sent to that address go straight into the request folder.
Once the request is live, people open the link, select files from their computer or device, enter their name and email, and upload. They don’t see other people’s files in the target folder, and they cannot browse your Dropbox account.
How this works across web, desktop, and mobile
On dropbox.com, you create, edit, close, reopen, and delete file requests from the File requests page. You also see which requests are open or closed, and you can jump to the destination folder to review files.
In the desktop app, you work directly in the destination folder that you chose when you created the request. Uploaded files appear there, and you can move, rename, open, or share them like any other file.
In the mobile app, you can open the same folder, preview uploads, move them into other folders as needed, and share them with others. Creation and management of the request still happens on dropbox.com.
Note: Upload size limits vary by plan. For exact limits, see the Dropbox Help Center article on file requests.
How to edit a file request
As your needs change, you might want to update the title or description, change the destination folder, or adjust a deadline or password. You can edit any open request on dropbox.com.
From a browser, go to File requests, switch to the Opened view, and select the request you want to update. You can edit its details, change where new uploads go, and update deadlines or passwords on supported plans. When you save your changes, the link stays the same, so people can keep using it.
On desktop and mobile, you’ll see the effect of these changes directly in the destination folder. New uploads appear in the updated location or follow the updated rules.
How to close a file request
When you’ve collected everything you need, you can close a file request so it stops accepting uploads. Once closed, anyone who opens the link sees that the request is no longer open.
On dropbox.com, manage this from the File requests page. In the Opened view, select the request, then choose Close request. The request moves into the Closed tab, while the destination folder and uploaded files remain in your Dropbox.
If you set a deadline, the request closes automatically when the deadline passes.
Closing a request doesn’t affect existing files. You can continue working with them as usual.
How to reopen a file request
If you need to collect more files using the same link, you can reopen a request as long as it hasn’t been deleted.
From the Closed tab on the File requests page, select the request and click Reactivate request. You can update the request details before saving. Once reactivated, the existing link works again and people can upload files as before.
New uploads appear in the destination folder alongside earlier files.
How to delete a file request
If you no longer need a request at all, you can delete it so it no longer appears in your list on dropbox.com. This is helpful when you want to keep your File requests page focused on active or recently used requests.
Delete requests from the Closed tab on the File requests page. Once deleted, the request can’t be reopened and the upload page no longer works.
Deleting a file request doesn’t delete the uploaded files. The files remain in the destination folder, and you can delete or move them separately if needed.
In this module, you’ve shared files and folders with specific people, created shared links for people without accounts, and used viewer info where available to understand who is engaging with your content. In the next module, you’ll learn what happens when you delete items, how to bring them back, and how tools like version history and Dropbox Rewind help you recover work.