Admins: How to use the team folder manager

Updated Aug 02, 2024
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This article describes a feature available to certain types of admins on Dropbox team accounts.  If you’re a team member looking for information on managing team folder, read this article instead.

The team folder manager is a tool for organizing team folder structure. Certain types of admins can also manage membership of team folders and any shared subfolders.

To access the team folder manager:

  1. Log in to dropbox.com with your team admin credentials.
  2. Click Admin console.
  3. Click Content.
     

How to create a team folder

To create a team folder:
  1. Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
  2. Click Admin console.
  3. Click Content.
  4. Click Create team folder on the right.
    • This will create a top-level team folder. You can also choose to create a team folder within a team folder. To do so, click a folder, then click New folder.
  5. In the box under Name, type a name for your new team folder.
  6. Select whether you’d like to share the new team folder with Everyone at [Team name], or only with Specific people
    • Uncheck the box next to Automatically sync this folder to members’ computers to prevent automatic syncing.
  7. Click Create.
  8. If you chose to share the folder with specific people, a pop-up window will appear. Enter the names of the groups or individuals you’d like to share the team folder with, and click the dropdown to select whether to give people edit or view-only access. 
  9. Click Add.
    • Note: The team folder is only shared with people after you enter their name(s) or email(s) and click Add. If you cancel out of this screen without adding anyone, the team folder won’t be shared with anyone else and it’ll only be visible to admins from the admin console.
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Notes:

  • Admins can also manage access to folders while inviting new members to a team.
  • Admins can also delete, archive, copy, and rename team folders.
  • Team members with edit access to the top level of a team space can convert shared folders in their personal space to team folders. They’ll also be able to convert team folders to personal folders. Learn more about managing team spaces here.

How to rename a team folder

  1. Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
  2. Click Admin console.
  3. Click Content.
  4. Click "..." (ellipsis) icon by the team folder that you want to adjust.
  5. Click Rename.
  6. Change the name of the team folder in the text box.
  7. Click Rename.

This name will change for all members of the team folder.

How to rename a subfolder in a team folder

  1. Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
  2. Navigate to the subfolder you'd like to rename.
  3. Highlight the subfolder and choose Rename.
  4. Change the name of the subfolder to the new name.
  5. Click Enter.

The name will change for any member of the subfolder's parent folder. People who aren't members of the parent folder will still see the old name.

Move subfolders out of the team folder

Team members will see a pop-up, warning them that existing users will lose access when moving subfolders out of the team folder.

How to delete a team folder

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Note: Depending on your team’s top-level content management setting, team members may also be able to delete team folders at the top level. Admins can manage this setting from the admin console. However, only admins can restore deleted team folders.

To delete a team folder: 

  1. Log in to dropbox.com.
  2. Navigate to the team folder you’d like to delete. 
  3. Click “...” (ellipsis) next to the team folder name.
  4. Click Delete.
  5. Click Delete again to confirm.

When a team folder is deleted, it gets removed from the team space. However, anyone who previously had access to it will retain access. To access a deleted team folder, navigate to Home in the far-left sidebar and click Show deleted files in the left sidebar.

How to archive a team folder

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Notes:

  • Archiving removes all members from the team folder and places the team folder in the archive tab. 
  • An archived team folder is still accessible to admins via the team content manager; archived team folders are not available to team members. 
  • Only admins can archive a team folder. 
  • Archived folders still count towards your team’s storage usage.

To archive a team folder:

  1. Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
  2. Click Admin console.
  3. Click Content.
  4. Click "..." (ellipsis) icon by the team folder that you want to adjust.
  5. Click Archive.

From the archive tab, click the gear icon beside any archived team folder to either:

  • Restore the folder.
  • Permanently delete the team folder.

How to restore a deleted team folder

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Note: Only admins can restore or permanently delete a team folder after it’s been deleted.

To restore a team folder that’s been deleted:

  1. Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
  2. Click Admin console.
  3. Click Content in the left sidebar.
  4. Click Show deleted files on the right side. 
  5. Select the team folder you’d like to restore. 
  6. Click Restore

Everyone who previously had access will now see the restored team folder in the team space. To prevent people from continuing to access this team folder, an admin will have to permanently delete it.

How to permanently delete a team folder

You can only permanently delete a top-level team folder if it’s already been archived. Permanently deleted files and folders can’t be restored


To permanently delete a team folder:

  1. Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
  2. Click Admin console.
  3. Click Content.
  4. Click Archived.
  5. Click the checkbox next to the archived folder you’d like to permanently delete.
  6. Click Permanently delete on the right side.
  7. Click Permanently delete again to confirm.
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Note: If you permanently delete a team folder, it can’t be recovered, even by Dropbox Support.

Downgrading your account

When you cancel your Dropbox team account, you’ll lose access to the team folder manager. This means you'll lose access to archived team folders. If there are team folders you don’t want to lose access to, we recommend you share every team folder in your account with the Everyone at [TEAM NAME] group.

To cancel or downgrade your Dropbox team account:

  1. Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
  2. Click Admin console.
  3. Click Content.
  4. Click Archive and restore any team folders you want to maintain access to.
  5. Once restored, click the gear icon next to a team folder.
  6. Click Manage access.
  7. Add the Everyone at [TEAM NAME] group.
  8. Repeat for all of the team folders you restored.

If you want certain team members to lose access to team folders when you cancel, then share the team folder with a group other than Everyone at [TEAM NAME] (e.g. a group that only contains team members you want to access the team folder after canceling). This step is important because groups invited to a team folder can't be changed after you cancel.

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