Dropbox Paper

What is Dropbox Paper?

Dropbox Paper is a flexible online document workspace inside Dropbox where you and your collaborators can create, edit, and share content together in real time. It’s designed for early-stage work like meeting notes, project plans, and brainstorms, and lets you combine text, images, media, and tasks into a single shared doc so you can keep ideas, decisions, and follow ups in one place.

A Paper doc is a flexible canvas where you can:

• Capture notes and decisions.

• Add images, files, and code blocks.

• Use checklists to track tasks.

• Comment and mention collaborators so conversations stay close to the work.

Where are my Paper docs stored?

It’s also helpful to know where Paper docs live in your Dropbox account, since this affects how you organize them, share them, and recover them if something is deleted.

Paper docs are stored as .paper files inside your Dropbox folders, alongside your other content. You can move, rename, and copy them like other files, and they appear in search results.

You can also use the dedicated Paper home section to find recent Paper docs, starred Paper docs, and search for Paper docs. To get to Paper home from dropbox.com, select Paper from the grid icon.

Create a Paper doc on dropbox.com

1. Sign in to dropbox.com.

2. Open the folder where you want to store your Paper doc.

3. Click New near the top of the page.

4. In the document options, choose Dropbox Paper doc.

5. Give your doc a title, then start writing.

The .paper file appears in that folder alongside your other content, and also shows up in Paper home.

As you add headings, Paper automatically builds a table of contents in the margin. This makes longer docs easier to scan and helps you jump straight to the section you need.

You can also type simple slash commands to add elements as you type, without leaving the keyboard, including:

• Headings, lists, tables, and timelines for organizing information like roadmaps, owners, and dates.

• Code blocks and quotes, so technical snippets and key statements are easy to spot.

• Media embeds for images, audio, and video, which keeps reference material and recordings in context.

For a full list of keyboard shortcuts, click the keyboard shortcuts button (it looks like a keyboard) at the bottom-right of your Paper doc.

Templates

If you create similar docs often, templates can save time. They let you keep a consistent layout and focus on filling in the content instead of rebuilding the doc each time.

Templates are commonly used for:

• Structured meeting notes, where you want the same sections each time.

• Project plans that track milestones, owners, and dates.

• Brainstorms that benefit from prompts and clearly defined next steps.

Templates keep one version of a structure and reuse it whenever you need that format again.

In Paper you can:

• Start from a ready-made template for common scenarios.

• Turn an existing doc into a template, to reuse your own structure.

Turn a Paper doc into a template

If you already have a doc that has the structure you like, you can turn it into a reusable template.

To create a template from a Paper doc:

1. Open the Paper doc you want to turn into a template.

2. Click more options (the ellipsis) in the doc.

3. Click Templatize.

Paper creates a template based on the current content and layout of the doc. You can keep editing the template, and any future docs you create from it will use the updated structure. Changes to the template don’t affect docs you already created.

Dropbox provides a Paper template library where you can browse and save templates to your account. Saved templates appear as .papert files, and docs you create from them are stored as .paper files in the folders you choose.

To work with templates in Dropbox Paper:

• Save existing templates from the Paper template library to your account.

• Edit, share, or delete .papert files like other Dropbox files.

• Create new docs from your saved templates when you’re ready to start working.

Share and collaborate in Paper

Paper is built for collaboration. Instead of sending separate attachments and messages, you can invite people to a doc, discuss content in comments, and assign tasks directly in the page.

Invites

You can invite specific people to a Paper doc and control whether they can edit or only view content.

To invite people from dropbox.com:

1. Open the Paper doc.

2. Click Share.

3. Enter the email addresses or names of the people you want to invite.

4. Choose Can edit or Can view.

5. Optional: Add a short message for context.

6. Click Share to send the invitations.

You can also create a shareable link for a doc and choose who can open it, depending on your sharing settings and plan. For more detail on shared links and permissions that also apply to Paper docs, see the Sharing module earlier in this course.

To add a comment:

1. Highlight the text or hover near the content you want to discuss.

2. Click the comment icon in the margin or in the formatting toolbar.

3. Type your comment, then click Post.

Comments appear in the margin and in a side panel. You and your collaborators can reply in the same thread, resolve a comment when the issue is addressed, and reopen it if more discussion is needed. Over time, this builds a clear history of questions, answers, and decisions, all attached to the places in the doc where they matter most.

To unresolve comments:

1. Open a Paper doc.

2. Click more options (the ellipsis).

3. Click Doc history.

4. Under the Comment history tab, find the list of resolved comments.

5. Scroll to the comment you'd like to unresolve and click Unresolve.

To mention someone:

1. In the doc text or in a comment, type @ (the at symbol).

2. Start typing the person’s name or email address.

Mentions can:

• Notify someone about a question or decision.

• Draw attention to a specific section of a doc.

• Show who owns a checklist item.

Tasks

Checklists in Paper act as lightweight task tracking, so you can turn notes into clear next steps without using a separate tool. For example, after a client call you can capture follow-ups as a checklist in the same doc as your meeting notes, then add @mentions and dates so ownership is clear.

To add tasks in a Paper doc:

1. Open or create a Paper doc.

2. On a new line, type [ ] (the left and right square brackets) and press the space bar to create a to-do box.

3. Type the task next to the box and press Enter to add another.

4. Add an @ mention to assign the task.

5. Click the calendar icon to add a due date.

You can also insert a checklist using quick add commands. On a new line, type /todo and press Enter, then start adding items.

Export Paper docs

Sometimes you need to take a Paper doc outside Dropbox, for example to send it as an email attachment, include it in another system, or share a version that won’t change. You might also want a clean copy to review in a meeting.

Paper lets you export docs to common formats while keeping the original Paper version for ongoing collaboration. You do this from your browser on dropbox.com.

You can export a Paper doc as:

• A Microsoft Word file (.docx)

• A Markdown file (.md)

• A PDF file (.pdf)

To export a Paper doc:

1. Open the doc on dropbox.com, so it appears in the Paper editor in your browser.

2. Open more options (the ellipsis) in the doc.

3. Click Export.

4. Choose the file format for your download.

5. Click Download.

When you export:

• Embedded content, such as videos or audio players, may appear as links instead of full previews.

• Some layouts, such as complex tables or timelines, may look a little different in the exported version.

Move, copy, and migrate Paper docs

In a previous module, you saw how to move, rename, and copy regular files and folders in Dropbox to keep projects tidy. The same ideas apply here, you’re still deciding where things live, which names make sense, and when it is helpful to keep a second copy.

Each Paper doc appears as a .paper file in your Dropbox folders. You can:

• Move a .paper file into another folder from dropbox.com, the desktop app, or the mobile app.

• Rename a .paper file. The doc title updates to match the new name.

• Make a copy of a .paper file to create a separate doc with the same starting content.

These options are useful if you are consolidating older projects, moving long-term reference material into another tool, or keeping a local archive outside Paper.

Recovery and history for Paper docs

When several people are editing a Paper doc, it helps to know you can see what changed and, in many cases, get back to an earlier state. In a previous module, you saw how Dropbox file version history and the Deleted files page work for regular files. Paper follows a similar idea, however it uses its own history and recovery tools, because it’s a web-based editor rather than a standard file type.

In a Paper doc you can open Doc history to:

• See who edited the doc and when.

• Step back through earlier versions and restore an older version if needed.

• Review changes and resolved comments over time, and unresolve comments when you want to reopen a thread

If you make a change you regret, you can restore a previous version from the Doc history window. Once you restore an older version and then edit it, you can’t return to the newer version you replaced, so it is worth double-checking before you proceed.

Recover deleted Paper docs

When you delete one Paper doc, it appears on the Deleted files page with your other deleted items, where you can restore it during the recovery period. The length of this recovery window depends on your plan.

Permanently deleting a Paper doc removes it from these recovery views, so if you aren’t sure whether you’ll need a doc again, it’s safer to delete it normally first and only permanently delete it.

Work with Paper docs on your phone

Paper works best in a full browser on a computer, but you can still open, review, share, and make light updates from your phone when you need to keep work moving. On mobile, the main difference is how you access your docs, which depends on whether your account uses the old or new release of Dropbox Paper.

You can access your Paper docs through the Dropbox mobile app and continue editing in a mobile browser.

On your phone, you can:

• Open the Dropbox mobile app and go to Home or Files to find your doc.

• Tap the Paper file you want to open so Dropbox can load it for viewing.

• Continue in your mobile browser to edit text and add comments, where supported.

• Use the Share option in the Dropbox mobile app to invite people or copy a link.

If you prefer, you can also open a browser on your phone, sign in to your Dropbox account, and open the Paper doc directly in the web editor.

Note: The Dropbox Paper mobile app was discontinued on October 9, 2025. More information on this can be found on the Help Center.

You should be able to quickly check meeting notes before a call, update a checklist after a discussion, or grab a share link for someone, without needing to return to your computer.

In this module, you’ve learned what Dropbox Paper is, how to create and format docs, use templates, and collaborate with comments, mentions, and tasks, as well as how to export, move, and recover docs. From here, you can revisit any module to reinforce a skill, or start combining what you’ve learned to build your own workflows across files, sharing, mobile, and Paper.