How to search the contents of your Dropbox files

Q: What files types is full-text search available for?

You can search the contents of the following file types:<ul><li>.doc</li><li>.docx</li><li>.docm</li><li>.gdoc</li><li>.gsheet</li><li>.jpg (Dropbox Professional and team users only)</li><li>.paper</li><li>.papert</li><li>.pdf</li><li>.png (Dropbox Professional and team users only)</li><li>.ppt</li><li>.pptx</li><li>.pptm</li><li>.gif (Dropbox Professional and team users only)</li><li>.gslide</li><li>.rtf</li><li>.tiff (Dropbox Professional and team users only)</li><li>.txt</li><li>.xls</li><li>.xlsx</li><li>.xlsm</li><li>.vtt</li></ul><a href="/content/dropbox/www/en-us/view-edit/image-search.html">Learn more about how to search images in Dropbox.</a>

Q: Is full-text search available in all languages?

No, full-text search is only available in certain languages. If your search results only include files and folders with your keyword in the name, then the feature isn't available in your language.

Q: Does search utilize AI?

<a href="/content/dropbox/www/en-us/help/view-edit/dropbox-ai-how-to.html">Learn more about Dropbox AI for search, including how to frame your questions for best results.</a>

Updated Oct 04, 2023

Full-text search is only available to Dropbox Plus, Family, Professional, Standard, Advanced, and Enterprise.

Full-text search allows you to search the contents of your files in Dropbox. With full-text search, when you search your Dropbox files for a keyword, the results will include any files that contain that keyword in addition to any files with that keyword in the name.

To search the contents of your Dropbox files:

Log in to dropbox.com.
Click the search bar at the top.
Start typing what you’d like to search for. Search results will appear as you type. You can either click one of those results or press the enter (Windows) or return (Mac) on your keyboard to see all results.

A text snippet will appear below each search result to show where in the file the keyword is located.

Not using Dropbox yet? See how Dropbox helps you effortlessly share files and folders.