How to share files or folders in Dropbox
The information in this article applies to all Dropbox users.
Dropbox makes it easy to share files and folders with anyone, even if they don’t have a Dropbox account. Whether you’re collaborating with colleagues or sharing personal files, follow these steps to quickly share your content securely.
There are several ways to share the files and folders in your Dropbox account. Before you share, decide if:
- You want people to have editor access
- You want people to have viewer access only
- You need to collect files from someone
Then, decide if you’d like to create a link to your file, folder, or request, or send an invitation via email from your Dropbox account.
If you’re a Dropbox Professional, Essentials, Standard, Business, Advanced, Business Plus, or Enterprise customer, you can also:
Note: If you’re sharing with someone who has an individual Dropbox account, they’ll need to explicitly join folders that you share with them. If you’re a member of a Dropbox team account and you're sharing a personal folder with other teammates, they will automatically join the folder.
Not using Dropbox yet? See how Dropbox helps you effortlessly share files and folders.
How do I invite people to edit my files or folders?
If you want the people you share with to be able to edit your files, you can share a folder with them. Changes to the contents inside a shared folder are synced with members of that folder almost instantly. It's a great solution to working together on large projects, sharing important family photos or documents, and any other collaborative effort.
Note: Sharing a file or folder with edit access gives that person the ability to add, edit, download, delete, or share files via shared links. If you’re an admin on a Dropbox team and you want to control how team members share links, learn how to manage sharing settings for your team.
If you’re a member of a Dropbox team account, you can still choose who you want to share the link with even if the team admin changes default link sharing settings.
Share a link to edit files or folders
You can also create shared links to give edit access to your files or folders.
Learn how to share a link to a file or folder.
How do I invite people to view my files or folders?
Depending on your account type, you can invite someone to view your files or folders by sharing a link or setting permissions. If you need someone to be able to see your files, but not edit them, you can send them a view-only link to that file, or you can give them view-only permissions.
Share a view-only link to a file or folder
When you share a view-only link with someone, they can view and download the file or folder on dropbox.com. You can send a link by email, Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), instant message, social networks, wherever you want. You can share these links with anyone, even if they don't have a Dropbox account.
The link opens as a preview on dropbox.com, and recipients can comment on the file.
Learn how to share a link to a file or folder.
How to collect files from people
You can collect files from people by creating a file request. Give the request a name and send the link to anyone you want to collect files from. People submitting files don’t need a Dropbox account.
