What is the Dropbox badge?
This article only applies to users who are using the Dropbox badge, and haven’t enabled Microsoft co-authoring. If you’ve enabled co-authoring, the badge will no longer appear.
For more information on co-authoring, visit this article.
The Dropbox badge appears to the right of your screen when you open any Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, or Excel file saved in your Dropbox.
When you first see the Dropbox badge, a greeting notification appears. To dismiss this notification, you can either click on the badge or complete the "Learn More" tutorial. You can also turn the badge off at any time.
Watch this video for a quick overview of the Dropbox badge.
What can you do with the Dropbox badge?
See who is viewing or editing a file
The badge will show the picture or initials of other members of your team when they’re viewing or making edits to the file you have open. That way you can avoid creating separate versions of the file.
Update to the latest version of a file
If someone saves a new version of a file while you're working on it, the badge will help you instantly update to their version.
Instantly share the file you're working on
Click Share a link and a link to the file will be copied to your clipboard. Paste that link in an email, chat, or elsewhere to send the file securely to anyone.
Manage shared folder settings
To manage shared folder settings using the Dropbox badge:
- Click the Dropbox badge.
- Click Shared Folder Settings...
You'll be taken to the Dropbox website, where you can manage user permissions on an individual basis.
Ask for feedback or contributions on a file
Click Comment to make a note on a file from the Dropbox website.
View version history to find content you changed or deleted
Click Version history to undo changes and restore an older version of the file.
Move the badge
You can click and drag the badge anywhere along the border of your files.
Work better on Microsoft Office files
The badge currently supports Microsoft Word, PowerPoint, and Excel on Mac and Windows devices. For Windows, the badge supports 2007, 2010, 2013, and 2016 Office files. For Mac, the badge supports 2011 and 2016 Office files.
Note: For files saved in Compatibility Mode (.xls, .ppt, .doc), the Dropbox badge will not show when another person is viewing the file and it won't prompt you to update to the latest version of the file. To ensure the badge is reporting accurately, please use Save As to save files in a non-Compatibility Mode file format (.xlsx, .pptx, .docx).
If you aren’t seeing the Dropbox badge in your Microsoft Office files but would like to, learn how to troubleshoot badge issues.
The timing and exact functionality of these features may change, and Dropbox doesn't provide warranties on the performance of these features.
