What happens to my Paper docs if I switch my account type?

Updated Nov 01, 2024

The information in this article applies to all Dropbox users, unless otherwise stated.

To figure out what happens to your content when you switch account types, find the scenario below that applies to you.

You join a Dropbox team or trial

If you have an existing free account, you can choose to use the same email address to join a Dropbox team account. All of your docs will move with you to your team account.

You can also choose to create a new account with a different email address. In that case, you’ll start with a brand-new, empty account.

Note: If you were using the old release of Dropbox Paper and you joined a Dropbox team using the new 2020 release of Paper, the docs from your old account can only be accessed through the search bar on dropbox.com. You can use the search bar to find your Paper docs by their titles or the content within them.

You cancel your Dropbox team subscription and disband a team

If you’re an admin and choose to disband a team, all content you own will move back with you to your personal account, including shared docs that you’ve accessed before or have been invited to.

You are removed from or leave a team

If your admin converts your account to a personal account or if the team is in a locked state and you leave the team:

All private content (docs you created that haven’t been shared with anyone else) will move back with you to your personal account.
- If you don’t have a personal account, your admin has the option to convert your account into one.
You’ll lose access to all shared content, including docs you own and have shared with others (this is to prevent team data from leaving the team).