Dropbox tips & tricks

You can use Dropbox Transfer to send files you don’t need to collaborate on, even if the recipient doesn’t have a Dropbox account. For example, you can use Dropbox Transfer to a finalized contract or deliver a file that’s too big to email.

When you send a transfer, the recipient receives a shareable link they can click to download the file(s).

In addition to sending individual files, when you create a transfer you can include multiple files and folders in a single transfer, customize transfers with an expiration date, password, or logo, and monitor download activity for any transfer you create. You can even send Photoshop files directly from the Photoshop app.

Note: The options to add passwords, customize transfers, and extend expiration dates are only available on Dropbox Professional, Advanced, Enterprise, and Education plans.

Create a transfer

1. Log in to dropbox.com.

2. Click the grid icon in the top-right corner.

3. Click Transfer from the menu that appears.

4. Click Create transfer.

5. Choose files or folders from your computer or Dropbox account.

6. Click the gear icon to customize your expiration date or add a password.

7. Click Next.

8. Click Copy link or Send via email.

Note: The options to add passwords and extend expiration dates are only available on Dropbox Professional, Advanced, Enterprise, and Education plans.

1. Log in to dropbox.com.

2. Click the grid icon in the upper-right corner.

3. Click Transfer from the menu that appears.

4. Click the transfer you want to change.

5. Enter the new date under Expiration. It’ll automatically be saved.

Note: Depending on your plan, transfers are automatically set to expire after 7 or 30 days. Dropbox Professional, Education, Essentials, Business, Advanced, Business Plus, and Enterprise customers also have the option to add a password and increase the expiration, up to a year.

If you accidentally delete a file or save a new version of a file you’re not happy with, rest easy.

Dropbox stores copies of your deleted files and folders for a certain period, including previous versions of files. This means you can access your file history and previous versions, just in case.

You can restore and recover previous versions of files and recover deleted files and folders in Dropbox.

Related resources

• Find out how long Dropbox stores previous versions of your files

• Learn how to recover multiple files or folders

• Find out if deleting a shared folder affects other members

1. Log in to dropbox.com.

2. Click All files in the left sidebar.

3. Hover over or select the correct file and click “…”(ellipsis).

4. Select Version history.

5. Select a version to preview.

6. Click Restore on the version you'd like to restore.   

1. Log in to dropbox.com.

2. Click Deleted files in the left sidebar.

3. Locate the deleted item you want to recover and click on its name.

4. Click Restore.

Find out how long Dropbox stores previous versions of your files

Learn how to recover multiple files or folders

Find out if deleting a shared folder affects other members

Find out how to rejoin a shared folder that you deleted

With the Dropbox mobile app, you can scan documents directly into your account with your iOS or Android mobile device. 

Now, all of your brilliant ideas scribbled on napkins, mapped out on whiteboards, or collecting dust in file cabinets can be housed in the same place.

Learn how to scan a document.

Tip: If you take a picture, point your camera at that object; a border will then outline the shape you’re scanning.

Once your Dropbox app is open on your mobile device, tap the ( + ) button. 

Choose Scan document and either take a picture of what you want to transform into a document, or select an image from your camera roll. 

If you do take a picture, point your camera at that object; a border will then outline the shape you’re scanning.

After scanning a doc, the next screen is the Edit view. 

The icons on the bottom represent the actions you can take to edit your scan. 

You can also tap Arrange to reorder the pages of your scan. In the Arrange view, long press a page to drag and reorder it.

From the Edit screen, you can also adjust your scan. 

Just tap the icon with the three sliders at the bottom of the screen and edit the area of your scanned document by moving the blue dots on each corner of the scan. 

Under Filter, you can decide what format you want the scan in (black and white, whiteboard, or original). 

After you’re satisfied, tap the checkmark to signify that you’re done.

From the Edit screen, tap Next to enter the Settings view. 

Name your file whatever you’d like, pick the file type (PDF or PNG), and then decide where to save your document. 

You’ll also notice that the Dropbox doc scanner will provide file name and folder location suggestions based on your recent scans.

If you’re on a Dropbox Professional, Essentials, Standard, Business, Advanced, Business Plus, or Enterprise plan, you can even search inside your scans.

Say you’re looking for that one scan of Grandma’s chocolate cake recipe the morning of your mom’s birthday. You can use the search bar on the mobile app or dropbox.com to find the doc that contains “birthday cake” in the file name, or even the contents.

Full-text search is only available in certain languages. So, if you use Dropbox in a language other than English and don’t see full-text search, that means the feature isn’t yet available in your language.