Domain insights and account capture

Account capture and domain insights are only available to Dropbox team accounts on an Enterprise plan. Both Advanced and Enterprise plan teams have access to domain verification and invite enforcement to help during the onboarding process.

Domain insights shows admins how many users have created personal Dropbox accounts using a work email address on their verified domain. Admins can then use account capture to force these users to migrate that personal account to the Enterprise team or to change the email address associated with their Dropbox account.

Domain insights and account capture help admins:

  • Gain greater insights into organic Dropbox usage on an organization's domain
  • Prevent unauthorized Dropbox usage on an organization's domain
  • Ensure the entire organization has migrated to a single team

Sections in this article:

Step 1: Verify domain ownership

Before domain insights and account capture can be enabled, a Dropbox team account admin must verify domain ownership:

  1. Sign in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
  2. Open the Admin Console.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Under Members, click Domains.
  5. Click Add domain.
  6. Enter the organization domain you'd like to verify ownership of.
  7. Select one of the three verification methods.
  8. Follow the instructions on screen—once you've completed the verification, you'll receive an email notifying you that your domain ownership was successful.

What if I have more than one domain to verify, or I want to verify a subdomain?

Admins can choose to verify a primary domain, which is the top-level domain of their website (For example, “dropbox.com”). Admins can also verify subdomains, which are secondary domains of their website (For example, “sales.dropbox.com” and “dropbox.com/sales”).

When an admin verifies a primary domain, they will see a checkbox next to Include all subdomains. Leave this checked to verify all the subdomains of the primary domain. Verifying a subdomain won’t show this option.

Which verification method is right for me?

There are three different ways you can verify your domain:

  • Add a meta tag
  • Upload an HTML file
  • Create a TXT record

For either of the first two options (Adding a meta tag or uploading an HTML file), you'll likely need access to modify the code on your website. This is a secure and relatively fast option, since Dropbox will be able to see the changes as soon as they are live on your website.

If you don't have access to modify your website directly, or you don't have a website hosted at the domain you'd like to verify, you can create a TXT record on your domain host's website.

Most domain hosting services should have this functionality, however the specific steps on each service will vary. If you are unable to locate the steps for modifying your DNS configuration, please contact your domain host's support team or documentation for help. Dropbox can't provide domain host support.

  • Note: Once you've made the changes on your domain host, it may take as long as a day for your changes to propagate across your website's domain servers. Dropbox will continue checking until the process is complete, and email you once the changes are live.

What if I wasn't able to complete domain verification?

If you were unable to complete the domain verification process, you can do so later using the Continue verification option.

  • Note: Dropbox won't provide any user information or enable invite enforcement until you successfully verify domain ownership.

Step 2: View domain insights

After you’ve verified your domain, you can see insights for each verified domain in the admin console:

  1. Sign in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
  2. Open the Admin Console.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Go to Members.
  5. Click Domains.

Each of your owned domains will show the amount of personal Dropbox account activity under the Personal accounts column.

Step 3: Turn on account capture

After you’ve verified your domain, you can use account capture to force team members using their work email address for a personal Dropbox account to migrate to the Enterprise team or to change the email address associated with their Dropbox account.

  1. Sign in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
  2. Open the Admin Console.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Locate the verified domain on which you'd like to enforce Dropbox usage.
  5. Click the gear icon and choose Change capture settings.
  6. Select if you'd like all users or only invited users to join your team.
  7. Click Next.
  8. Optional: Send an email to Dropbox users on your domain.
    • If you choose All users, you have the option to email Dropbox users on your domain before account capture is enabled. Users who are already members of other Dropbox team accounts won't be notified. You can Skip this step.
    • If you choose to send the email, enter an email address that users can respond to if they have questions about this notification. You can also add a custom message to the email with any required information or instructions for your users.
    • Click Send email.
  9. Click Turn on capture.

Can I use account capture for users on other Dropbox teams?

The account capture feature will only allow you to capture users who aren't yet members of a Dropbox team account. If you'd like to merge other, existing teams, contact us for help.

Can I resend the account capture email notification?

Yes. You can resend the account capture email even if you’ve already turned on account capture. To do so:

  1. Sign in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
  2. Open the Admin Console.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Click Domains.
  5. Click the gear icon.
  6. Click Email unmanaged users.
    • Note: If you don’t see Email unmanaged users, there are no unmanaged users with your domain
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