How to set device approvals for Dropbox team members

Updated Mar 08, 2024
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This article describes a feature available to customers on Dropbox Advanced, Business Plus, and Enterprise.

With device approvals, certain types of admins can manage the devices team members use to access their Dropbox team accounts. Learn more about device limits for users on different Dropbox plans.

How to set up device approvals for your team

  1. Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
  2. Click Admin console in the left sidebar.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Scroll to the Devices section and click Device approvals.
  5. In the Computers and Mobile devices sections, use the dropdowns at the right to choose how many computers and devices each team member can connect to Dropbox through the desktop and mobile apps.
  6. In the Disconnected devices section, use the dropdown to choose what happens when a member disconnects a computer or device from Dropbox:
    • Remove the device: The device no longer counts toward the limit.
    • Keep the device approved: The device counts toward the limit until an admin manually removes it.
  7. In the Device overages section, use the dropdown to choose what happens when a member is already above one of the limits (such as when they join the team or when an admin lowers the limit):
    • Remove oldest devices: Oldest devices (by last activity) are removed and disconnected to fit the limit.
    • Remove all devices: All devices are removed and disconnected.
    • Add them to exception list: The member is allowed to connect as many devices as they like.
  8. In the Exception list section, click No exceptions to choose which members (if any) can connect as many devices as they like. Start typing the name or email address of each member, click the auto-populated name to add it, and click Done when you’ve added everyone.
  9. Click Save at the bottom right to confirm your changes.
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Note: Device approvals affect only the Dropbox desktop and mobile apps. They don't affect any other app or dropbox.com.

How to limit team members to one Dropbox account per computer

If you don’t want your team members to access both a personal and a work Dropbox account on their computers via the desktop app, you can choose to allow only a single account on each computer.

  1. Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
  2. Click Admin console in the left sidebar.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Scroll to the Devices section and click Multiple accounts.
  5. Toggle Multiple accounts to Off.
  6. Click Save at the bottom right to confirm your changes.
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Note: Only the account the member logged into first stays logged in. The account they logged into second is logged out. This doesn’t affect the Dropbox mobile app or dropbox.com

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