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Edit Photos and PDFs with Dropbox
Want to hear about one of the handiest Dropbox features I use regularly? Check out how easy it is to upload, edit, send, and sign PDFs in one place. No technical wizardry, no back-and-forth file conversions, and no additional software to install. PDF editing features let you add text and more Not all PDFs are ready to go, there's usually some info you need to add or edit, and now, editing them is as easy as click, click, click. There are tools on our PDF editing feature so you can do more without changing programs. Within Dropbox, you can: Add text to documents: Insert descriptions, dates, notes etc., anywhere on a PDF and modify text font, color, size, and emphasis Page zoom: Adjust the page view for easier navigation These features are useful for managing work-related and personal documents. Our own team makes the most of editing PDFs to organize and consolidate receipts at home. Learn how to get started editing PDFs now. Edit PDFs on-the-go Need to make changes when you'er away from your desk? No worries, you can edit PDFs directly on your iPhone or Android device. Edit PDFs on iOS: Add text or a signature to PDFs on your iPhone with the Dropbox mobile app. Edit PDFs on Android: The Dropbox smartphone app makes it easy to edit PDFs on your Samsung Galaxy, Google Pixel, or any other Android device. Work from wherever you are, without needing to switch between devices or apps to get things done. Automatically add watermarks to multiple files No one likes to have their work passed off as someone else’s - and now you can make sure it doesn’t happen to you with a few simple steps. Save time, ensure confidentiality, and protect your brand by applying a watermark automation to a new or existing folder. Then, every PDF and image added to the folder will be automatically watermarked. We’re big fans of automations that truly make life easier, and this one makes us very happy! To create an automation and learn more about watermarking, visit our automations page. I’d love to know how you make the most of these PDF editing features - tell us below!Dropbox Basic: Work Outside the Box
If you work with more than one person, you more than likely have needed to share a document or file to work simultaneously or receive feedback. With your Dropbox Basic account, you collaborate with friends and family and work outside of the box. Even if they do not have an account, you can still collaborate with them! Dropbox has made it easy to share files with friends and collaborate on projects. Share files with friends and family I recently learned that you can share files from Dropbox with friends or family that do not have an account. When you share a file or folder using Dropbox, the recipient receives an email with a link to the file or folder. The recipient does not need a Dropbox account to view or edit it though. Just this past week, I shared a Paper document with my sorority sister, and she was able to view and edit the file without any issue. On the file was a to-do list for the both of us and we worked together on the document. Learn more about how to add to-do list to your paper document. You can also control whether people can edit or view your files and folders when you share them and even after you share them. Edits and comments that’s made to a shared file or folder are updated live for everyone they’ve been shared with. This allows for any changes to projects to be implemented right away and ensures everyone is on the same page. Ways to Collaborate Sharing files is usually top priority when working with others. With Dropbox apps and integrations, sharing, syncing and collaboration is made easy. Whether you are sharing a school project, presentation, bachelor trip details, or planning your 30th birthday party, it is likely that you will pass the file along to someone else for their input. As sad as this may seem, Summer vacation for students and teachers will be ending in about 1 month. The time will come during the school year where you will have to participate in the good ol’ school project. The conversation of how you will collaborate to ensure everyone is working together always comes up, and you can suggest using Dropbox. With your Dropbox account, you can collaborate with your school project team members that do not have a Dropbox account. You can use word processing applications such as G-Suite and Microsoft Office Online. Learn more about how to use these integrations. This will allow for an automatic sync after each team member contributes to the project. Your Dropbox account allows you to collaborate with multiple team members from multiple locations at one time. It’s a big year for celebrating! Gathering in large groups has finally become a norm since 2020. People have planned large parties and events to celebrate weddings and birthdays. To do this, you will likely collaborate with friends and family virtually. Don’t forget that you can use Dropbox Paper to create a guest-list, or a to-do list where you can tag the other party hosts. You can even create the invites with Dropbox’s Canva integration. The beauty of using your Dropbox account for tasks like this is that you can use 3 different applications and all users can access files in one place. Things to know when collaborating When collaborating on a file, Dropbox has features that allows the file to be shared and protected when multiple people are editing. Dropbox has collaboration tools for sharing work, and guards old documents by locking the file or creating a conflicted copy. Here are some tips and tricks you can use to collaborate. Create link: Create a link with Dropbox that allows you to easily share the files with friends and teammates. To create a link: Open the Dropbox folder in File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac). Right-click or command-click the file or folder you'd like to share. Click Share…. If a link hasn't been created, click Create link. The link is copied to your clipboard. Create a to-do list: When saving, sharing and collaborating on files and folders, you can add a checkbox that becomes tasks for the people you are working with. When you or someone else with permission click a checkbox, the line of text next to it is crossed out with a strikethrough. Mention someone: To notify collaborators, click the @ icon. This allows you to insert the email address or name of someone in your Dropbox contacts. The person is notified by email and their Dropbox account shows that they have been tagged in a folder. This is a helpful and easy way to communicate asynchronously. Your Dropbox Basic account is a great way to work with family and friends. Leave a comment and tell us how you use Dropbox to collaborate with family and friends!Get the best out of your Dropbox account at work as a Team Member or Admin. 👩💻
If you use Dropbox for business we want to make sure you get the most out of your plan. Whether you’re a team member or a team admin, knowing what your role lets you do (and what doesn’t) can save you a ton of time and headaches. First things first, are you a Team Member or an Admin? If you’re not sure whether you’re a team member or an admin, here is how to find out: Sign in at dropbox.com using your work email. Click your avatar (Profile pic or initials) in the top-right hand corner. Select Admin Console from the dropdown Note: If you see the Admin Console option, you have admin access; if you don’t, you are a team member. If you are an admin, you may have specific admin rights (like managing users, security or billing). To check this: In the admin console go to members Find your name and check the admin role column To understand what each role includes check it out here As a Team Member: What You Can and Can’t Do Depending on your team set-up, you might see or be able to do slightly more or less than what is listed here. Don’t worry, it’s not personal, it just means the admin sorted things to keep everything running as smooth as possible. If in doubt give your admin or team lead a nudge. What you can do: Access your Dropbox from anywhere - web, desktop app, or mobile app. Upload, rename, and organise files and folders. Share files or folders with others, set view/edit permissions. Use team folders if you’ve been granted access. Comment on files an keep track of any updates. Scan and upload documents using the mobile app. Enable camera uploads on mobile for automatic photo backup. What you can’t do: Add or remove users from the team. Change admin settings or view activity reports. Restructure team folders unless given explicit permissions. More guidance is available here in the Dropbox Team Member Learning Guide. As an Admin: What You Can and Can’t Do Just a heads-up – not all admins have the same powers! What you can do will depend on the specific admin role you've been given. What you can do (depending on your admin role): Invite or remove team members. Assign admin roles to other users. Create and manage team folders, control folder-level permissions. Set security policies – such as two-factor authentication device approvals. Monitor team activity through logs and reports. Manage billing and subscription details (if you're the Billing Admin). What you can’t do: View every file by default – Admins don’t have automatic access to user content unless it’s shared with them or in shared/team folders. Act outside your assigned role – For example, a Reporting Admin can’t manage billing or user permissions unless given that access. Need Admin Access? If you believe you should have admin permissions (e.g. to manage users, oversee content, or configure settings), you’ll need to speak to an existing admin on your team. To find out who the admins are: Go to to the admin console (if you can see it) Click Members Look under the Admin role column, This shows who holds admin rights and what type they have If you do not have access to the admin console: As a regular team member on a Dropbox Business/Teams account, you generally cannot directly see a list of admins from your own account interface. The ability to view admin roles is typically restricted to those with admin privileges who can access the Admin Console. To know who your admins are, you can: Ask your team or IT department: They can tell you who the admins are. Look for admin communications: Sometimes, admins send out team-wide messages or manage shared folders, and their names may be visible in those contexts. Check for admin labels: In some cases, when viewing shared folders or team spaces, you might see labels or notes indicating who manages them, which could hint at admin roles. Hint: Look back in your emails and see who invited you to the team - they will be a Team Admin. To wrap things up, knowing the difference between team members and admins in Dropbox can really help everyone work better together. When you understand your role and what you can do, it makes collaborating and sharing resources a breeze.How I Use Dropbox as a Community Manager 👩💻
Hi everyone, it’s Theresa here, and I’m sure you’ve seen me bopping around the Community. I am one of the Community Managers here at Dropbox, and I’d love to share how I use Dropbox on a daily basis. Now, I’m not just saying this… I have relied on Dropbox long before I worked here, but more about that later. Here are some of the ways I use Dropbox to do my job. One of my favourite tools is, of course, Dropbox Paper. It’s amazing for pulling together documents in real time. Whether I’m creating content or helping choose our Community Member of the Month, it’s truly one of the best tools for collaboration. I can easily invite teammates to jump in, edit, and leave comments directly in the document. My favourite feature has to be the ability to tag and create new documents right within the one I’m working on. As a creative, ideas can come to me suddenly - and just as quickly disappear. By simply typing “+” and adding my idea, a new document link is created instantly, so I can capture the thought and return to flesh it out later. The built-in Dropbox Screenshot tool is an absolute lifesaver for sharing visuals. I use it all the time to grab screenshots of Community feedback, social media buzz, or highlights from recent events. It adds a real spark to my reports and presentations, making it much easier for everyone to see the impact of what we’re doing. And because I share them straight from Dropbox, there’s no messing about with endless email threads or bulky attachments. Setting it up is so so easy: just head to your Dropbox preferences, go to the Backups tab, and tick the option to “Save screenshots to your Dropbox.” From then on, every time you press Command + Shift + 4 (or Print Screen on Windows), your screenshot will be saved and ready to share in seconds. Outside of work, I'm a musician. I have been using Dropbox to keep my music projects organised for so many years, it is second nature. So, I am based in Ireland, but the rest of my band are over in the Netherlands, so having a shared space where we can all work together is a massive help. I keep a folder for each song with everything we need - lyrics, demo recordings, MIDI files, staging images, and notes on the music. It means we’re all on the same page, even from different countries. By the time we get to rehearsals, we’ve already done most of the groundwork, so we can hit the ground running. The fact that we can leave comments directly on files by opening a file in Dropbox and clicking the speech bubble icon is an amazing way to keep the conversation, give feedback, or suggest changes in the one place rather than going back in forth in emails/messages. (Handy when the group chat is mostly GIFs and Memes). I hope this inspires others on using Dropbox in their work life (and also their outside work life). It for sure relieves some stress to keep that life/work balance in check.Understanding A, B, C, and D Drives: What They Mean and How They’re Used
Hey there, it's Theresa here 👋. You might see me around the Community, popping into different threads and joining conversations and I often notice users looking for the best ways to manage their storage effectively 🚀. By default, Dropbox saves files on your computer’s internal drive, typically the C: drive 👨💻. But sometimes, you need a little extra space, and the D: drive can be a great alternative. It helps free up valuable room on your primary drive while still giving you seamless access to your important files. If you want to learn more about setting up Dropbox on an external drive, check out this guide. But what about those other drives? The ones labeled A: and B:? Why don’t modern computers use them? And what exactly does the C: drive do? Let’s take a nostalgic and practical dive into the world of drive letters and what they mean in computing 💻. A: and B: Drives Ah, the A: and B: drives - ancient relics of computing! Back in the day, these drives were the VIP section for floppy disks, the original storage superheroes of the 80s and 90s. For those lucky enough to have never experienced floppy disks, let me explain: they were small, portable, and could hold a whopping 1.44 MB to 2.88 MB of data. That’s right, an entire three documents …if you were lucky 💾. Modern computers no longer come with A: or B: drives, as the floppy disk has been banished to the land of obsolete tech alongside VHS tapes and Blockbuster memberships 📼. However, those letters are still reserved for these iconic disks, almost like a tribute to the O.G’s of storage - here, computers have to pay their respects to the ancestors too. C: Drive The C: drive is the most important and commonly used drive in a computer system. It is typically the main hard drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD) that contains the operating system (like Windows), applications, and most of your files 💻. In modern Windows systems, the C: drive is like your default "everything" space. It’s where the system stores its most prized possessions, from system files to personal documents to that folder full of memes you forgot about. Installing Dropbox on your C: drive is a great way to store your cloud files locally on your computer while keeping them synced across all your devices. So, think of the C: drive as the top drawer of your desk: it holds all the stuff you need every day, the stuff you’ll probably need soon, and the stuff you just threw in there to deal with later. Keep it clean…or don’t - but either way, the C: drive is where it all goes down 👩💻. D: Drive The D: drive is the unsung hero stepping in when you need a little extra space. It’s like the spare room in your house, or that second closet where you shove everything when company’s coming over 🙊. The D: drive is typically assigned to secondary storage devices. This could be a second hard drive, an optical drive (AKA CD/DVD drives ..remember those?), or even a partition on the same physical hard drive as the C: drive. And let’s not forget its role as the go-to for removable storage like USB flash drives or external hard drives. (Hint: Set up Dropbox on you D: Drive for those "I’ll definitely organise this later" files) 👨💻. So, whether you're optimizing storage, decluttering your digital space, or just taking a trip down memory lane, it’s always good to know what’s going on behind the scenes 😉. And hey, if you ever need help managing your files, you know where to find me 👩💻. I’ll be around the Community, diving into conversations and helping out wherever I can. Got any storage tricks, you or even fun computer nostalgia to share 💾💿📼? Drop them in the comments.. I’d love to hear them!Use Movebot to transfer files from one Dropbox account to another
Moving files from one place to another can be time consuming, but it doesn’t have to be. We mentioned before how you can use Movebot to transfer from a file storage tool over to Dropbox, and well, we realise you might need to transfer from one Dropbox account to another, without worrying about any files being forgotten in the process. Well, the good news is, Movebot can make that easy too! Migrating files from one Dropbox account to another: Migrating between Dropbox accounts is the same process as migrating from another tool to Dropbox, or from an on-premises file server to Dropbox, only difference is Dropbox will be both the source and destination platform in the migration. You can also migrate between Dropbox Personal accounts and Dropbox Business accounts. How to start the migration: If running a simple user to user migration, then Movebot’s simple migration wizard is perfect. You will just need to configure Dropbox and the source and destination, select your source folders and where you want to migrate them to on the destination and then kick it off. Don’t worry, we have the steps outlined below. First things first, you need to get set up. Navigate to admin.movebot.io and create an account, on completion you will be taken into Movebot’s dashboard. Create a new simple migration From the dropdown select Dropbox Personal or Dropbox Business from the list. You should receive a pop-up to provide Couchdrop access (Movebot’s parent company). Once it has successfully connected Save and Configure Destination. You can now map what folders you wish to migrate from your source to destination and where you would like to migrate these folders to in the destination. Once you’re happy with your selection then Save and Finalize. You can now provide the migration a name (optional) and then start the migration by selecting Save and Kickoff and you’re set! The migration will start and vary in time depending on how much data there is to transfer, but once it’s finished, you will receive an email or if you are following the migration as it happens, you will see a screen similar to the below showing that status of the migration. There you have it, a simple way to transfer all your files from one Dropbox account to another. We would love to hear how this would help you - tell us in the comments below how you use Dropbox, and any other tips you might want to know about.Dropbox Basic: Let's Maximize Space
Try to think of your Dropbox cloud storage as a well organized bedroom. In order to maximize space, you want to be thoughtful about how you use each closet and section of the room. With your Dropbox Basic account you have 2 GB of storage. With this amount of storage its imperative that you are thoughtful about the files you save to your Dropbox account. If you know more about files sizes, you can make more informed decisions about which files you upload. In this article you will get a better understanding of how to maximize space with your Basic Dropbox account. What are the average file sizes of media we use daily? Images Many of use Dropbox to upload images, which come in several formats and sizes. These formats affect the amount of space the image may take up. Photos from our computers are usually in formats such as JPEG and PNG. This is great because these images often don’t take up as much space as larger format files. Image formatting (as in the space it takes up, not the dimensions of the photo itself) is based on resolution and quality of the pictures. I know this because I uploaded each type of image to my Dropbox Account and saw that the quality and difference in resolution affected the overall size. Larger pictures, such as raw camera footage (TIFF and BMP), should be converted to JPEG before uploading to your dropbox account. The rationale here is so that you save about 1000kB of space. Documents Documents overall take up the least amount of space. With your Basic account, you can save about 25,000 pages of word documents, depending on file size. If you use documents for planning and collaboration, I suggest you try using Dropbox Paper. Paper documents take up very little space on Dropbox. I would suggest placing homework assignments and projects that you may always need access to on your Dropbox account. I am currently working on creating my dissertation and have it saved on Dropbox - this document is super important to me and I need to ensure that I can access it from all of my devices. Media Files Video is the largest file format but that doesn’t mean you can’t store video files in your Dropbox Basic account. To make the video more compact you can use an online compressor, or, like I’ve done in the past, edit the videos to make them shorter. I have also experimented with changing the format of the video to reduce file size. Remember to treat your Dropbox like your well organized bedroom. You want to shrink larger items if you can and want to organize items that you know do not take up much space. I use my Dropbox account to hold my important documents, vacation photos and files from Dropbox Paper. Now that I know how much space each file takes up, I do my best to maximize my space. Let’s maximize our space by using the tips and tricks above - and if you have any other space saving tips, share them in the comments below!Dropbox Basic: Apps and Integrations
Have you toggled between several applications to maintain your virtual workspace, but you still feel disorganized? Your Dropbox account serves as a hub to hold all of the files and documents that you work with daily, no matter the platformused to create them. With your Basic Account, Dropbox makes it seamless for you to collaborate with any team member or friend using several different tools and software. As a new user to Dropbox, you should know that it will sync with applications that you are familiar with and may use daily. I use apps and integrations for organization of files, planning and to help with my personal life. Organization of Files Dropbox apps and integrations help with the organization of your personal files. When I think of organization for my virtual workspace, I consider labeled folders, storing various documents in one space, and being able to easily access any of my important files from multiple devices. I also consider how I can use the applications that I love with ease. There are applications and integration that help make the most of file organization, such as Dropbox for G-Suite, Dropbox for Microsoft Office, and Adobe. With Dropbox for G-Suite, you can create, edit, and share Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides in Dropbox. This integration has saved me so much time because I no longer switch between multiple tools and instead create new Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides directly from Dropbox. Note: To use Dropbox for G Suite, the email you use for your Google account must match the email you use for your Dropbox account. Find out how to change your Dropbox email address. Similar to Dropbox for G-Suite, Dropbox for Microsoft Office allows automatic sync when working in the Dropbox application. Already use Microsoft Office Online, this integration will be great for you. If you feel like you are working in silo with Microsoft office, you could use Dropbox to help your team continuously collaborate. Easily access, edit, and share Office docs online in Dropbox. Learn more about working with Microsoft Office files from your Dropbox account. Use Adobe Acrobat to create, convert, edit, protect, sign and save changes to PDFs in Dropbox. Editing a PDF just became more of a seamless process with the Adobe and Dropbox. Planning Creating a strong plan and staying consistent with follow up is often the hardest part for me in the planning process. Planning has been made easy with Dropbox Paper. I’ve used Dropbox Paper to plan events, meetings and even project proposals. The beauty of planning with Dropbox Paper is the consistent formatting, collaboration tools and the useful templates that you can access. Learn more about the templates that you can access here. One of my personal favorite templates to use for planning, is the Project Proposal Template. This template gives you the best of several worlds. If your work is mostly built around meetings, tasks and presentations, here are some apps and integrations to help you. With the Dropbox integration for moday.com you can manage work, meet deadlines, and build a culture of accountability and inclusion for your team. Use Trello boards to plan your weekly tasks. I used Trello when I worked at a high school. On our Trello board, there were links to documents that lived on Dropbox, making it super easy to keep up with all the moving parts that went into the busy school day. Prezi is a great program used to create presentations. When Dropbox is linked to your Prezi account, you can upload files and pictures directly from Dropbox to the Prezi presentation. Personal Life I’ve made it a point to highlight how we can use our Dropbox basic accounts to organize and plan by using applications and integrations. Dropbox is also a useful tool in personal life. Stay on your personal schedule with the Google Calendar and Outlook integration. Never miss a doctor’s appointment again. Learn how to add these integrations to your workflow. Exercise your creativity and use Canva to create beautiful graphics from your content on Dropbox. I’ve used Canva to create flyers for game night, custom menus for dinner parties and even to spruce up my instagram post. Virtual education is now a new norm since Covid-19 has affected the world. Explain Everything Whiteboard is a Dropbox integration that allows you to create a virtual whiteboard for your Dropbox files. Create videos, teach, and collaborate on an infinite canvas. Zoom was my favorite application for video conferencing during and after the pandemic. Stay connected with friends and family virtually with Zoom video call and Slack messaging. Automate communication using Dropbox and other applications with Zappier. Zappier will allow you the ease of sending out communication to your team or friends automatically. Dropbox apps and integrations are used for creativity and to sync files quick and easy. In our self-guided learning library, you can explore Dropbox features at your pace. With an eye to your own work, you can pick and choose topics that help you best learn how to make the most of your Dropbox account.
