How to share a file or folder through Dropbox

Updated Nov 15, 2024

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

When you share a file or folder using Dropbox, the recipient receives an email with a link to the file or folder. Learn more about Dropbox shared links and how to create them. The recipient must have a Dropbox account and be logged into that account to view or edit the file or folder. If the recipient doesn’t have a Dropbox account, or doesn’t want to log in to view it, you can share a view-only link instead.

You can control whether people can edit or view your files and folders when you share them and even after you share them. Edits and comments made to a shared file or folder are updated live for everyone they’ve been shared with.

Learn how to manage your default sharing settings.

Notes:

If you’re on a Dropbox team account and you share a folder with your teammates, they'll automatically join the shared folder.
If you share a folder with an individual Dropbox user, the user needs to manually join the folder.
Anyone who’s invited to collaborate in a file or folder can create their own link to share with others.
- If you’re an admin on a Dropbox team, you can control the access settings for folders. Learn how to manage shared link 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.
Dropbox is moving to an updated shared link architecture where links are based on content rather than on users. This will affect how links are created and shared. The new links can be identified by the presence of an ‘rlkey’ parameter in the URL. For these links, the above behavior will perform differently:
- Users with view-only access can only create view-only links, but users with edit access can create both edit or view-only links if links have not already been created.
- Only one edit link and one view-only link can exist per file or folder.

How to share a file or folder through Dropbox

Follow the steps below to learn how to send and share files through Dropbox, using dropbox.com, the Dropbox desktop app, and on the Dropbox mobile app:

Log in to dropbox.com.
Hover over the file or folder you’d like to share and click Share.
- Note: You can view pages in a document, scrub through a video, or flip through the contents of a folder without opening it. To do so, make sure you’re using grid layout, then move your cursor horizontally across the file or folder.
Select Add people.
Type the Email, name, or group of the person (or people) you’d like to share it with, and click to select them from the results.
- Note: You can invite as many people as you’d like.
Select Can edit or Can view.
Add a note if you’d like.
Click Share file or Share folder.

The person or group will receive an email with a link to the file or folder.

Open the Dropbox folder in File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac).
Right-click the file or folder you’d like to share.
Select Share… next to the Dropbox icon.
Type the Email, name, or group of the person (or people) you’d like to share it with, and click to select them from the results.
- Note: You can invite as many people as you’d like.
Select Can edit or Can view.
Add a note if you’d like.
Click Share file or Share folder.

The person or group will receive an email with a link to the file or folder.

Open the Dropbox mobile app.
Tap “⁝” (vertical ellipsis on Android) or “…” (ellipsis on iOS) next to the folder you’d like to share.
Tap Share.
Tap Invite to file (file) or +Invite (folder).
Tap under Send to and type the Email, name, or group of the person (or people) you’d like to share the file or folder with.
Tap to select them from the results.
- Note: You can invite as many people as you’d like.
Tap to select Can edit (view, comment, and edit) or Can view (view and comment but not edit).
- Tap Close on iOS.
Tap Optional message on Android or Message (optional) on iOS to add a message, if required.
Tap Share.