How to manage licenses for Dropbox team accounts

Each team member uses a license. As a Dropbox team admin, you can manage the number of licenses on your team, check license usage, and add or remove licenses as your team’s needs change.

Before making changes, check your current license usage, pending invitations, billing method, and any storage implications.

Check your team’s license usage

You can check how many licenses your team is using and review your team’s storage usage in the admin console.

1. Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
2. Click Admin console in the left sidebar.
3. Click Dashboard.
4. Under Team Storage, review your team’s license usage.
5. Under Storage, review your team’s storage usage.

Team members, suspended members, and pending invitations

Pending invitations and suspended members also count toward your team’s license usage, so checking only active members may not explain why a purchased license is unavailable.

• Team members: Each member counts against your team’s total licenses.
• Pending invitations: Invitations that haven’t been accepted yet still use licenses.
• Suspended members: Suspending a member doesn’t make their license available for someone else.

Inactive licenses aren't removed automatically. Certain types of admins can add or remove licenses from the admin console.

If you're on an individual Dropbox plan, learn how to change or cancel your subscription.

If you need more storage rather than more team licenses, learn how to get more storage space.

Add licenses to your team

If your team has no available licenses, you may need to purchase additional licenses before adding new members. The process depends on your team’s billing arrangement.

If your team pays by credit card, PayPal, or direct debit

1. Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
2. Click Admin console in the left sidebar.
3. Click Members.
4. Click Invite Members
5. Enter the email address of the person you want to add, then click Next.
6. Select the team folders the person should have access to and set their permissions.
7. Click Next.
8. Review the invitation and billing information.
   • Note: If you don’t have an available license, you may be charged for an additional license.
9. Click Invite, then Done.

If your team pays by check or manual invoice

Contact your Dropbox account executive to add licenses before inviting additional team members if your team doesn’t have any available licenses.

Remove licenses from your team

You can reduce the number of purchased licenses if your team no longer needs them. The steps and timing depend on your billing method.

Before removing or reducing licenses, complete this checklist:

• Review current license usage.
  • Check the number of licenses your team is using, including pending invitations and suspended members.
• Confirm the new license quantity.
  • Make sure the remaining capacity will meet your team’s needs.
• Check your renewal date.
  • Confirm when the reduction will take effect or when your request must be submitted.
• Confirm your billing method.
  • Self-service reductions and manual-invoice requests follow different procedures.
• Review storage implications.
  • On Dropbox Advanced, Business, and Business Plus plans, removing licenses may put your team over its storage limit. Check your team’s current storage usage and available options before proceeding.

If you pay by credit card, PayPal, or direct debit

1. Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
2. Click Admin console in the left sidebar.
3. Click Billing.
4. Under Products, click Manage licenses.
5. Enter the new total number of licenses you want your team to have.
6. Click Remove licenses.

If you pay by check or manual invoice

To remove or reduce licenses, contact your account manager. 

If you pay by check or manual invoicing, you can’t edit invoices or view receipts on dropbox.com. You can request a copy of your invoice by emailing invoices@dropbox.com.

Reuse an available license

If someone leaves your team or no longer needs access, you may be able to make their license capacity available for another team member without purchasing an additional license.

First, identify why your team doesn’t have an available license.

If a team member no longer needs access:

1. Review the member’s access and confirm that it’s appropriate to remove them from your team.
2. Follow your organization’s offboarding process and remove the member if authorized.
3. Return to the admin console and check your team’s license usage.
4. If a license becomes available, invite the replacement member.

Learn more about deleting a member, or learn how to convert them into in individual account.

If an invitation is pending:

Pending invitations count toward the team’s overall license total. Review the invitation before issuing another one.

1. Check whether the invitation is still needed.
2. If it’s not needed, cancel or withdraw it using the available team management controls.
3. Recheck your team’s license usage.
4. If capacity becomes available, invite the intended member.

If a member is suspended:

Suspended members still count toward the team’s overall license total. Review whether the member should remain suspended, be reinstated, or be removed from the team under your organization’s access policies.

Understand charges for team invitations

Inviting someone to your team and purchasing additional licenses are related, but they aren’t the same action.

Before sending an invitation, check whether your team has the sufficient license capacity. Pending invitations count towards the team’s overall license total, even if the invited person hasn’t joined yet.

If your team has an available license

Check whether you can invite the person without purchasing another license.

If your team doesn’t have an available license

You may need to add a license before the person can join. Review and displayed price before confirming a purchase.

If an invitation is pending

Check whether the person still needs access before sending another invitation or changing your license quantity.

If a team member has been suspended

Remember that suspended team members are included in the team’s overall license total.

For billing questions, review the details in your admin console, or contact your account manager.

Troubleshoot unavailable license controls

If you can’t find Manage licenses, or your can’t add or remove licenses, check the following.

Can’t see the Admin console?

• Make sure you’re signed in to the correct Dropbox team account with admin credentials. 
• If you have more than one Dropbox account, confirm that you’re using the account associated with the team you want to manage.

Can’t find Manage licenses?

1. Open the Admin console.
2. Click Billing.
3. Look under Products for Manage licenses.

If the option isn’t available, confirm your team plan and admin permissions.

Can’t remove the licenses yourself?

• If your team pays by check or manual invoice, you need to contact your account manager to remove or reduce licenses. 
• Make sure to submit your request at least 30 days before your renewal date.

Can’t reduce licenses immediately?

• For teams paying by credit card, PayPal, or direct debit, a license reduction takes effect on the renewal date. 
• This means that it doesn’t immediately reduce the number of purchased licenses.

Not sure whether you need another license?

• Check your current license usage, pending invitations, and suspended members before purchasing more licenses.
• If the numbers don’t match what you expect, contact Dropbox Support before confirming an additional purchase.

Contact Dropbox Support about licenses

Can’t find what you need in this article? For further help managing or understanding your team’s license count or billing, contact Dropbox Support:

1. Log in to dropbox.com with your team admin credentials.
2. Open the Admin console.
3. Click Help in the left sidebar.
4. Follow the prompts to contact Dropbox Support.

Provide the following when contacting Dropbox Support:

• Your team plan.
• Your current billing method.
• Your renewal date (if known).
• The license quantity you’re trying to match.
• A description of the issue you’re facing.