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Forum Discussion
Questions about the "view-only" shared links
I’ve set up a series of nested folders and a View-Only link.
Q1:
Is there any way that I can prevent one of my link-sent-to-visitors-view-only link from doing a Copy to Dropbox? To be clear, I want them to view it. I want them to download and enjoy what’s there. I know they will share some things. I just don’t want mass copy-everything-that’s-here, which is possible from the main folder I'm sharing. [I think they answer is that I can't stop it.]
Q2:
If a person I send my link to has their own Dropbox account and does a Copy to (their) Dropbox, can I know they did this? And please assure me that as it's copy not share, II will not be stuck having their folders/files and that I won’t see their stuff unless they specifically share their folders with me.
Dropbox Plus
Sharing via View-only link
Not using a Dropbox folder on my Mac
4 Replies
- Walter
Dropbox Community Moderator
Yes, if they copy your files to their Dropbox account it will count towards their own quota too Dweb
If they're logged into their account when they access your shared links they will get a window asking them if they'd like to view (or download) the files and/or add them to their account.
I hope this clarifies and please let us know if you have any follow up questions.
Thank you!!! Well explained. 🙂 One more follow-up please.
If a person has their own Dropbox account, and they use my View-only link:
Say my material is 1gb.
When they "Copy to Dropbox" does that use up 1gb of their own space?I know that if they are not logged into their account, they can't Copy and will be asked to log in or sign up so that's good.
But can you please tell me or give me a screenshot of what they see if they are logged in? (Asking because people don't want to go over their own space quote and cause a mess.) (I do realize if they are logged into their own account they will know for the icon in the top right and they will not see a prompt there to Login/Signup. However, worry prevails and prevents.)- Hannah
Hey Dweb, thanks for your post!
When it comes to our shared links, there is actually no way to stop someone from using the "copy to Dropbox" option.
Depending on your plan, you might have the option to disable the "download" button, but you mentioned that you want them to download the files and that won't stop them from saving the files to their account.
As for your second question, I can confirm that when you share a "view-only" link with someone, what they're doing is accessing a copy of the folder or file that you send them.
Meaning, they cannot make changes to the original files in your account, nor can you access the files they have in their accounts.
I hope this clarifies things.
Let me know if you have any more questions!
