How to migrate legacy Paper docs

If you or your team has legacy Dropbox Paper docs that you need to access, you can migrate eligible docs to the latest version of Paper. You can also delete legacy docs that are no longer needed. 

Admins can migrate their entire team to the latest version of Paper if they’re still using legacy docs. 

Common reasons for legacy Paper docs

A team or team member may still have legacy docs if: 

• A team was set to the updated version of Paper without migrating legacy content.
• A team using the legacy version of Paper was deactivated, so its content wasn’t migrated. 
• A team using the legacy version of Paper was disbanded, so members were converted to individual users with legacy content.
• There are complex ownership issues, including docs or folders owned by deleted members or docs in folders owned by other members.

What legacy Paper docs can be migrated by team members?

A team member can migrate any legacy docs that:  

• Are owned by the member but aren’t in a folder
• Are within a folder they own

Members can’t migrate legacy docs they own if they’re in a folder they don’t own. In this case, the docs must be migrated by the folder owner.

How team members can migrate legacy Paper docs

Members can delete or migrate legacy Paper docs that are eligible for migration. To migrate or delete legacy docs: 

1. Log in to dropbox.com.
2. Go to the legacy Paper docs homepage or click the link to the legacy doc you want to access. 
3. Choose whether to migrate all your docs or delete docs before migration: 
   • To migrate all docs, click Migrate all in the top left. 
   • To delete unwanted docs before migration, click Delete to the right of any unwanted content then click Migrate all. 

After migration, the docs will appear in your Paper workspace. 

How to migrate legacy Paper docs or your team as an admin

Team admins can migrate their own legacy Paper docs or legacy docs that are owned by deleted members. 

How to migrate or delete a deleted member’s legacy Paper docs

Admins need to claim ownership of a deleted team member’s content before migration or deletion. To migrate or delete a deleted member’s legacy docs: 

1. Log in to dropbox.com using your admin credentials.
2. Go to the legacy Paper docs homepage. 
3. Click Transfer all deleted user content in the Docs and folders owned by deleted users section.
4. Click Transfer to confirm. 
5. Once their content is transferred and appears in your list of legacy docs, follow the steps below to migrate or delete these docs.

How team admins can migrate or delete legacy Paper docs

To migrate legacy docs that you own or delete legacy docs you no longer need: 

1. Log in to dropbox.com using your admin credentials.
2. Go to the legacy Paper docs homepage. 
3. Choose whether to migrate all your docs or delete docs before migration: 
   • To migrate all docs, click Migrate all in the top left. 
   • To delete unwanted docs before migration, click Delete to the right of any unwanted content then click Migrate all. 

After migration, the docs will appear in the your Paper workspace.

How team admins can migrate their team from legacy Paper 

If your team was deactivated during migration but is now reactivated, you can migrate your entire team from legacy Paper to the latest version. To do so: 

1. Log in to dropbox.com using your admin credentials.
2. Go to the legacy Paper docs homepage. 
3. Choose whether to migrate your team or delete docs before migration: 
   • To migrate your team, click Migrate team in the top left. 
   • To delete unwanted docs before migration, click Delete to the right of any unwanted content then click Migrate team to complete the migration. 

This will migrate your entire team’s legacy content to the latest version of Paper. 

How to migrate a deactivated user’s legacy Paper docs 

Team members can’t migrate a legacy Paper doc that’s owned by a deactivated user. When you try to access the doc, you’ll see an error message saying that an admin needs to claim and migrate the doc before it can be viewed. 

If the team admin can’t claim ownership of the legacy doc, they’ll need to contact Dropbox Support to request migration.