How does a non-Dropbox user open a file I shared with them?

Rich wrote:

I wasn't forced to sign in

Sadly, that's just one of the possibilities, not the rule (aka "it works on my computer"). To put this in the words of Forrest Gump's mother, a Dropbox shared link is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get.

If you're on mobile, you're first offered to download the app. If the account that shared the file is a business account, Dropbox could ask "Do you collaborate frequently with X? If you collaborate frequently with X, ask to join the team -- or go directly to the file" and then you're presented with the "Ask to join" and "Continue" buttons. If your visit is triggering some of the checks that arstep2​ is triggering, you will be asked to "confirm your identity".

The experience of shared links has been getting worse over time, because Dropbox is using it to push user growth by trying to mislead visitors of a shared link into thinking they have to create a Dropbox account in order to get to the file. That's not cool.

To answer Gazzy​'s original question, sadly the answer would be "instruct them to look for the Download button or 'Open in browser' link and also tell them they are not required to create a Dropbox account in order to get to the file".

Hope this helps,
Andrew (DBoxTips)

P.S. I am a volunteer on the Dropbox forums, freely and happily sharing know-how with other users, not affiliated with Dropbox in any way.