How to share a Dropbox File or Folder with a Short URL

why did dropbox remove the url shortening? Very frustrating. However the previously shortened urls that I created earlier for my public files still work. Thank god for that.

It's so annoying :(

The enormous url makes no sense! I have no option when using the Finder shortcut, just the big/ugly url. The short URL should be a default.

The shortened URLs were removed because many thought they looked suspicious/spammy. Apparently Dropbox received complaints (that's the information that was provided on the old forums). One of the only locations where they still existed was when sharing a link to Twitter. You could go through the process of sharing to Twitter to get the shortened URL without actually submitting the Tweet. You could then copy/paste the shortened URL to wherever you needed it.

Since this was an option that existed and was removed, it's highly unlikely that it will return. You're just better off running the URLs through a link shortening service like bit.ly or goo.gl. You'll get the added benefit of some stat tracking at most third-party services as well, which Dropbox has never provided.

My resolution for short urls and how it came to be...I'm a Dropbox Pro user on Windows 10 with Snagit.

I constantly have to send support tix w/screenshots and explanations via regular email to website/CRM support teams in the car dealership industry because their support systems can't display inline images OR attachments coming from a regular Outlook email address. Their ticketing systems are beyond antiquated.

One day I saw the Snagit > Dropbox integration, set it up in under 30 seconds and the next time I took a screenshot (1), I highlighted the screenshot > clicked send to Dropbox (2) > within 3 seconds (3) Windows automatically puts the shortened into my clipboard (4) and I paste into email (5).

Much easier than a url shortener, Snagit does it for you.

Integration link: https://www.techsmith.com/snagit-outputs-windows.html 

Example walkthrough

Short Url: https://db.tt/832VFYyg 

Any way to default to a short link, or maybe custom link?

You can shorten your link within Dropbox. You can do this by following these steps:

(1) Select the file within your Dropbox folder by highlighting it (not clicking the link). Click an empty space anywhere after the name of your file.

(2) A new menu shown below will appear on top of the "list" of your Dropbox files

(4) "Shorten Link" will be available on the popup box

Hope this helps! :-)

• (3) Click "Copy public link..."
• (4) "Shorten Link" will be available on the popup box

That's only available for files located in the Public folder, which is a deprecated feature. Accounts created after October 2012 no longer have a Public folder.

Any way to default to a short link, or maybe custom link?

No.

This really is insane they haven't fixed this yet.

It was a mistake to remove short URLs.  Mistakes happen.  Just put them back already.

Every time I share a link I think how I need to just ditch Dropbox already and move to one of (several) better solutions for this kind of thing... all because they won't just enable a feature they already built.

*facepalm*