Dropbox desktop experience

The Dropbox desktop experience provides one organized place that brings work into focus and keeps you in sync—right from your desktop.

With features like descriptions, to-dos, comments, pins, and sharing tools, the desktop app lets you turn any folder into a connected workspace with Dropbox Spaces. Spaces help you track your work and collaborate even better.

With Dropbox, your desktop is also a place to organize your files, folders, and Spaces, create cloud content, share and collaborate with your team, and see your file activity and notifications. 

Dropbox desktop experience

How to: desktop app

1. Download the desktop app on your computer.
2. Once Dropbox is installed on your computer, you’ll see the desktop app as well as a Dropbox icon in the system tray (Windows) or menu bar (Mac) and a Dropbox folder on your hard drive.
3. You’ll be prompted to sign in with your Dropbox Business account credentials. You should use the same email address and password that you signed in with on dropbox.com (this will be the same for all your devices).

 

The Dropbox desktop app is available for Linux, Windows, and macOS operating systems. Find out more about using the desktop app with Windows 10 in S mode or on Linux.

Find more information on Dropbox compatibility with your operating system.

How to change desktop app preferences on your computer.

What to do if Dropbox won't install.

You can add nearly any kind of file to your Dropbox account in several ways. From the desktop app:

1. Drag and drop the file into the desktop app or the Dropbox folder on your hard drive.
2. Select the Dropbox folder when using the Save As option in most applications.

The Dropbox icon in the system tray (Windows) or menu bar (Mac) gives you quick access to recent files, notifications, and app preferences. Simply click the icon to see updates or change settings.

1. The For you tab shows a personalized list of your files, folders, and Dropbox Spaces including Your highlights, your Starred files and folders, and your calendar events and meetings.
2. The Recent tab shows files that were recently opened and/or edited.
- Toggle between You and Team to either see files that you recently edited or files that your team members recently edited.
3. The Notifications tab shows recent activity on your Dropbox files and files that have been shared with you. Notifications are also available as pop-ups on your desktop.
4. From the Dropbox icon, you can also:
- Search for content in your Dropbox account
- Create a web-based file in Dropbox Paper, Microsoft Office, or G Suite
- Open Dropbox Paper on your computer
- Open dropbox.com in your web browser
- Open the desktop app or Dropbox folder on your computer, depending on your settings
- Review and update your app settings and preferences

When you install the desktop app, a Dropbox folder is created on your hard drive. It works like any other folder on your file system, but any files you move or create here will be uploaded to the Dropbox cloud. 

To use the Dropbox folder in Finder or File Explorer instead of the desktop app:
1. Click the Dropbox icon in your system tray or menu bar. 
2. Click your profile picture or initials in the upper right corner.
3. Click Preferences….
4. Click the dropdown next to Open folders in: and choose Finder or File Explorer.