Upcoming file system update to your Dropbox team account
This article describes an update for teams on Dropbox Standard, Business, Advanced, Business Plus, and Enterprise.
Overview
Dropbox is updating the structure of team folders so that they’re better organized and easier to use. This article provides a pre-migration checklist with instructions, and goes over potential issues you may encounter from the update. Please note that this update will change file paths, which may interrupt API integrations.
What to do before your file system updates
Make sure everyone on the team follows the pre-migration checklist instructions the day before updating to minimize pre- and post-migration issues. This includes team admins, members, and app developers. Expect limited access while the update takes place.
Pre-migration checklist
☑Update to the latest versions of Dropbox on desktop and mobile.
- Check that the Dropbox desktop app is running version 197 or later. Learn how to update to the latest version.
- Check that the Dropbox mobile app is running version 380 or later. Learn how to update apps on Android and iOS.
- Update third-party apps or custom API integrations to their latest versions to prevent API calls from failing.
- To use shortcuts again, remove the old links and create new ones.
- Learn how to create Windows Quick access links and Mac aliases.
- If using the Dropbox for Salesforce app, check to ensure it’s running version 1.700 or later.
☑Manage file settings and permissions to handle file path changes.
- Check sharing permissions for top-level folders in the Manage access setting.
- If you do not want team members to manage access to a team folder, change the Manage access setting to allow Only admins.
- Make sure top-level folders are appropriately named.
- Names of top-level folders will become visible in the file path to team members with access to its subfolders.
Note: Windows computers have a 260 character limit for file paths, and exceeding the limit prevents them from opening. The update exposes the full folder path to include the top-level folder, which may exceed the character limit. Users should ask the team admin for a folder path report to determine folder path lengths and then:
- Reduce the size of their folder names.
- Move sub-folders closer to the root to flatten the file structure.
- Set Windows regkey to enable long file paths via Group Policy “Enable Win32 long paths”. Please note that this doesn’t work for Microsoft 365 files.
- Switch integration file paths from absolute to relative, if available.
- Browser URLs and absolute links will break once file paths change. Switching to relative means you won’t need to re-configure the paths after updating, but you can always manually configure the file paths after the update.
- If you’re an app developer on a team account, you’ll need to list the contents of the team space by setting the root using “/files/list_folder” with the “Dropbox-API-Path-Root” header, and then setting the path to empty quotes (“”).
- If an app relies on absolute paths to team folders in the member folders, and “Dropbox-API-Path-Root” isn’t set, those team folders won’t be found through those file paths once the team updates.
- Using the folder ID to access contents of the team folder won’t work since a relevant root is required. Learn more about how to update your integrations to this updated version of Dropbox.
Important: To store your Dropbox folder in a location other than the default drive, you need permission to read files from and write files to that location. Attempting to set a non-default location without the right permissions produces an error message saying Dropbox has encountered problems and will need to re-sync your files. Click Ok to:
- Create a new folder in your C: drive, and
- Move your old Dropbox files to a folder named “C:\Dropbox (Team Name) (OLD)”
☑Manage selective syncing for team folders.
- Team admins should enable team selective sync, and turn on syncing for team folders. Selective syncing for subfolders will match the top-level folder, but team selective sync is off by default to avoid syncing user folders that aren’t supposed to be synced.
Turning selective sync on makes sure that folders stay synced to team members’ computers after the update finishes, allowing them to access their files on their computer. Team admins can check the folder path report for all team folders that they want changed to Automatically sync to members’ computers.
Note: Team admins can reach out to Dropbox support to generate folder path reports.
☑Prepare your device for the update.
- Close any open apps, and restart your device.
- Close any apps that automatically opened after restarting your device.
- Pause all shortcuts and third-party app integrations.
- Leave the Dropbox desktop app running overnight.
Avoid using Dropbox and making changes to files during the update to avoid unexpected issues. You’ll receive a notification once the update is complete, allowing you to continue using Dropbox as normal.
Important: The migration may get stuck if it encounters a Dropbox synced file that’s being used by an open application, or even Windows File Explorer. Make sure the Dropbox desktop application is updated to version 197 or above, and click Try again on the dialog window to complete the migration.
What to do after your file system updates
Once the update is complete, team admins and members should follow the post-migration checklist to ensure their settings are appropriately configured.
Post-migration checklist
☑Update third-party automation file paths to the new Dropbox folder name.
After this update, the name of the Dropbox folder will change from “Dropbox [team name]” to “[Team name] Dropbox”.
☑Select which folders you’d like to make available offline.
Existing team folders will default to the availability setting for new files. Check your folders post-migration to make sure that any folders that need to be available offline, are.
Tip: We recommend setting files to online-only for faster syncing times.
☑Manage selective syncing for team folders.
Team members may need to enable selective sync individually. If you’ve been granted access to a folder but it doesn’t appear in the Dropbox desktop app, turn on selective sync for that folder. Ask your team admin for a folder path report to identify the top-level folder for your subfolders if needed.
Note: Team admins can reach out to Dropbox support to generate a folder path report.
☑Choose whether to allow team members to create team folders.
Learn more about team folders.
☑Re-check sharing permissions for folders.
To allow team members to share subfolders but not the top-level team folder, the team admin should set the Manage access setting to Admin only for top-level folders, and Team members who can edit for subfolders. This setting cascades down the team folder tree to subfolders, and is independent of the top-level content management settings. Learn more about managing access settings.
The default for the Manage access setting on team folders depends on where the team folder is created.
For example, new folders created in:
- “/browse” will be set to Team members who can edit by default.
- The content manager by an admin will be set to Admin only by default.
How to reschedule the team file system update
Team admins can reschedule the date of the update from the admin console. To do so:
- Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
- Click Admin console.
- Click Settings.
- Click Team profile.
- The scheduled date for the update shows under Filesystem update.
- Click the first dropdown to choose a date that’s available within the calendar.
- Click the second dropdown to choose a time.
FAQs
How long will this migration take?
Generally speaking, migration duration increases linearly with the total number of unique team members in the largest team folder tree. Some teams may take several days to complete migration, but this only applies to teams with exceptionally large team folder trees.
How do I fix the “Can’t sync Dropbox account” error?
If you’re on Windows, you may encounter a post-migration issue that stalls the syncing process. If you get this error and check your sync status, it’ll say Updating Dropbox account or Upgrading database. This happens if you have applications open during the update that try to use Dropbox.
There are a few ways you can try to resolve this issue. Be sure to wait a few minutes after trying each option to allow Dropbox to start syncing. If Dropbox doesn’t start syncing after a few minutes, continue with the next option:
- Restart your device. Once your device restarts, close all apps before opening Dropbox.
- Log out of Dropbox, and log back in.
- Log out of Dropbox, and rename or delete the Dropbox folder. Then, log back in.
Once the problem is resolved, the sync status will update to show that syncing is in progress. If there are many files to sync, you can reduce the sync time by logging out of your Dropbox account. When you log back in, configure your selective sync setting to only sync the folders you need.
What’s a personal folder?
After the file system update, each team member will have a personal folder. This folder stores the team member’s files, and any files that are shared with them. You can find this folder at “/[team name] Dropbox/[team member’s name]”. Learn more about how to share content with your team after the file system update.
What other changes are happening to team folders?
- Team folders will move from member folders to the Dropbox team space.
- Renaming a team folder changes the name for everyone else.
- When you create a team folder, you can choose who to share it with, and when.
- Team members can add content to team folders by clicking Create or Upload files and folders from the All files page.
- All files in the team Dropbox will be organized in folders, either in your member folder or in team folders. Team users won’t be able to add files to the team Dropbox root, and will need to add them to a folder instead.
- Team admins can share team folders externally with individuals as well as groups.
- To share team folders with people outside your team, the Sharing externally setting must be set to On. You can change this setting from the admin console.
- Sharing a folder with someone on your team reveals the file path name to the folder you’ve shared.
- For example, if you decide to share a subfolder called “Summer Campaign 2024” with a team member, they’ll be able to see the file path for the parent folders (e.g., “Design/Marketing/Summer Campaign 2024”) even if they don’t have access to those folders. The “Summer Campaign 2024” folder appears as a traversal rights folder. All folder and file permissions stay the same.
Learn more about how to share content with your team after the file system update.
What actions can mobile app users take after the filesystem update?
Mobile app users can create and share team folders, but must use the desktop web browser to move, delete, rename, or duplicate folders.
