How to change admin rights for your Dropbox team

Updated Jan 17, 2024

On team accounts, there are admins and team members. Admins can manage membership to the team, change settings, and manage billing. Dropbox recommends that all Dropbox team accounts have at least two admins.
 

Admins on a Dropbox Standard or Business team all have global permissions as team admins. Admins on Dropbox Advanced, Business Plus, or Enterprise teams can have global permissions as a team admin or a more limited set of permissions. 
 

Not using Dropbox yet? See how Dropbox makes managing file permissions easy.

How to add or change an admin

  1. Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
  2. Click Admin console.
  3. Click Members.
  4. Click the gear icon for the member you want to make an admin.
  5. Select Add admin permissions from the menu.
  6. Confirm you’ve selected the correct admin permissions level in the pop-up window.

How to remove an admin

  1. Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
  2. Click Admin console.
  3. Click Members, and then locate the member whose account you'd like to delete.
  4. Click the gear icon beside the member's name, and select either Remove admin permissions or Delete user.
  5. If you're deleting a user, select whether or not you'd like to use remote wipe to remove any files from the user’s linked devices the next time they come online, and then click Delete.
highlight icon

Note: There must always be at least one team admin.

How to change admin permissions

  1. Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
  2. Click Admin console.
  3. Click Members
    • You’ll see their current role in the User Type column.
  4. Click the gear icon next to the member name.
  5. Click Add admin permissions or Change admin permissions.

 

Types of admins

There are eight pre-built admin roles, each with a different set of permissions. 

  • Team admins can access all permissions.
  • User management admins can add, remove, and manage team member accounts.
  • Support admins can help team members with limited tasks, including resetting passwords.
  • Billing admins can make payments and renew contracts.
  • Content admins can set content permissions and manage content.
  • Compliance admins can manage retention policies and legal holds. This admin role is only available to teams that have purchased the Data Governance add-on.
  • Reporting admins can create reports on team activity and member data.
  • Security admins can manage security alerts, external sharing, and security risks.

Refer to the table below for a detailed list of permissions for each admin type. Scroll to the right to see all admin types.

Org-wide settings

Team admin

User management admin

Support admin

Billing admin

Content admin

Compliance admin

Reporting admin

Security admin

Enroll in early-access programs

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Global authentication settings

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

3rd-party app linking

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Change global sharing controls

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Create/remove team folders

Yes

No*

No*

No

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Manage Dropbox Paper settings

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Manage Signatures page settings

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Manage Send and track settings

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Manage Device approvals

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Manage Network control settings

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Create company-managed groups

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Adjust group members

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Manage sharing links owned by team members

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

No

No

Yes

Manage file editing app settings

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Manage data retention and disposition policies

Yes

No

No

No

No

Yes

No

No

Manage security alerts

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Manage automatic data classification

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Member management

Team admin

User management admin

Support admin

Billing admin

Content admin

Compliance admin

Reporting admin

Security admin

Log in as member

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

Initiate domain invites

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Invite/remove team members

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Change team member email

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

No

Yes

Send invitation reminders

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

Yes

Transfer accounts

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Delete non-admin members

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Reset non-admin passwords

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

No

Yes

Close non-admin web sessions

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

No

Yes

Close admin web sessions

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Create/assign admin roles

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

Suspend/remove admin roles

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

Reset admin passwords

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

No

No

Create/manage/archive team folders from team folder manager

Yes

No*

No*

No

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Manage legal holds

Yes

No

No

No

No

Yes

No

No

Viewing permissions

Team admin

User management admin

Support admin

Billing admin

Content admin

Compliance admin

Reporting admin

Security admin

Non-admin activity reports

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

View members tab

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

View company activity feed

Yes

No

No

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

View dashboard

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

View team member profiles

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Generate per-user activity logs

Yes

Yes

No

No

No

No

Yes

Yes

Account settings

Team admin

User management admin

Support admin

Billing

Content admin

Compliance admin

Reporting admin

Security admin

Add licenses

Yes

No

No

Yes

No

No

No

No

Access billing tab

Yes

No

No

Yes

No

No

No

No

Access help & contact support

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

 

*Team admins on Dropbox Enterprise can grant these permissions. To grant these permissions to user management admins and support admins:

  1. Log in with your admin credentials.
  2. Click Admin console in the left sidebar.
  3. Click Settings.
  4. Click Content Management.
  5. Check the box next to the type of admins you’d like to grant permissions to.
Was this article helpful?

We’re sorry to hear that.
Let us know how we can improve.

Thanks for your feedback!
Let us know how this article helped.

Thanks for your feedback!

Community answers

Other ways to get help