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Forum Discussion
BusinessBuddyTeam
2 months agoExplorer | Level 4
Can clients have full edit access to a shared Dropbox folder without creating an account?
We’re having trouble setting up Dropbox to function as our agency’s main file management system for clients.
Here’s what we need:
We want to share individual folders with each client so they can:Upload any type of fileCreate new foldersMove files aroundDelete files or foldersFully manage their content within their own shared folderHowever, they should only have access within their own assigned folder and any subfolders—not outside of it.
The challenge we’re running into is that we want clients to have this full level of access without having to create a Dropbox account. Many of our clients aren’t tech-savvy, so we want to make this as simple as possible—just open the link, manage files, done.
Is there any way to grant full folder access and editing abilities to external users without requiring them to sign in or create an account? Or would that level of permission always require a Dropbox login?
We’d love to know if there’s a workaround, setting, or third-party integration that might make this possible.
Hey BusinessBuddyTeam - thanks for using Dropbox and posting on our Community!
I'm afraid there's no way to grant others edit access rights without a Dropbox account at the moment, you can only use shared links with view-only rights and file requests perhaps. As you mentioned, the shared folders feature would be the best way to achieve what you wanted.
I'm not aware of an integration that can help with this, but I'll leave the thread open for other users to share their thoughts on this too.
Let me know if you have any follow up questions!
4 Replies
- Walter2 months ago
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hey BusinessBuddyTeam - thanks for using Dropbox and posting on our Community!
I'm afraid there's no way to grant others edit access rights without a Dropbox account at the moment, you can only use shared links with view-only rights and file requests perhaps. As you mentioned, the shared folders feature would be the best way to achieve what you wanted.
I'm not aware of an integration that can help with this, but I'll leave the thread open for other users to share their thoughts on this too.
Let me know if you have any follow up questions!
- Dell_Dropbox2 months ago
Community Manager
Hey there, welcome to the community BusinessBuddyTeam
TL;DR: Dropbox requires a Dropbox account to accept an invitation to a shared folder and have edit abilities, there's no way around it.
Why?
- Shared folders in Dropbox are actual synced folders across accounts: changes by any collaborator propagate to all others. To enable that, Dropbox treats each collaborator as a “member” of that shared folder in their own account, so they need to have an account.
- Permissions need to be tied to identity (so you can revoke, track changes, etc.)
Luckily, your clients can create a free Dropbox basic account.
- BusinessBuddyTeam2 months agoExplorer | Level 4
Thank you very much Dell_Dropbox !
- BusinessBuddyTeam2 months agoExplorer | Level 4
Thanks for the insight Walter !
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