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How to request a Dropbox file
Dropbox is amazing as a collaborative tool - and collaboration goes both ways, so while you might be great at sharing files with your team, not everyone is. Don’t worry though, that doesn’t mean you’re stuck without your files - you can just request access and carry on! You might have seen us sharing tips on how to share your files with others here, well now we are going to flip that, and explain how you can request someone else’s files. Why would I need to request a Dropbox file? Let’s say that you discuss a file with a teammate in a meeting, and they promise to share the file with you. The next day, you notice you don’t have access yet. Looks like your teammate got pulled into a meeting right after you spoke and completely forgot to add you to the file. No problem, you can use Dropbox file requests to eliminate stress for you, and for them! Some other reasons you might want to use file requests: Anyone can send you a file you've requested, whether they have a Dropbox account or not. All the files you collect are automatically organized into a Dropbox folder you choose. People who upload files to your file request cannot access your Dropbox account. Only you can view files uploaded by others, unless you decide to share them. How do I request a Dropbox file? That all sounds good, so how do I request the files I need? Easy, just follow the steps below. Sign in to dropbox.com. Click File requests in the left sidebar. Click New request above the list of file requests. Under Title, enter a name for your request. Under Description, add details about the request, if you’d like. Choose the folder where uploaded files will go. You’ll see a default folder path. f you want to change it, click Change folder and pick a different destination.  (Optional) Set a deadline for submissions (available on some plans).  Click Create. Invite people to upload files: Type the email or name of the person (or people) you want to request files from - they’ll receive an email invitation. Or click Copy link to copy the upload link and share it wherever you want.  If you already know the exact link of the file you want access you can simply add it to the request: To copy a link instead, click Copy next to Share a link instead. You can paste the link into an email, message, or wherever you’d like people to access it. Click Share. You’ll receive an email confirmation, and an email notification when files are uploaded to your file request. Now you can get access to your files in no time! And if that wasn’t enough info, you can learn even more here. Tell us how you collaborate with your team in the comments below.Organize and share Christmas photos with Dropbox
Christmas is definitely a time of year that I find myself taking more pictures than normal. Meeting up with family and friends and wanting to capture special moments means that I have my camera on more than I don’t. If you’re anything like me, you’ll want to be able to share all of these photos with those closest to you. Social media can be a good way to share photos, but there are definitely times when we might want to keep these photos within a private group of people, especially when family are involved, Dropbox makes it easy to share with exactly who you want. To start with, I’ll always make sure that my camera uploads are turned on. You’ve probably heard me talking about this a few times before, but I’ll stand by my words again because I love this feature, it saves me time, space on my phone and makes sure I never lose any photos, so it’s a no brainer for me. If you don’t know how to turn on Camera uploads you can find all the information you need right here. Now that all my photos will be automatically added to my Dropbox account, I’ll figure out a way to organize all of the photos I take at Christmas into folders. Generally speaking, I’ll be meeting up with a lot of different groups of people on different days, so I’ll only want to share photos with the people that are in them, so I’ll start by making a Christmas folder, then inside that I’ll make folders for Christas Eve, Christmas Day, Stephen’s Day, New Years Eve and any other days I might be out and about. Then, dependent on what I’m doing, I might make different folders within these daily folders, for example I might do Christmas morning swim and Christmas Dinner, or Stephen’s Day lunch and Stephen’s Day drinks. Once I’ve got my folders created and all my photos put in the right place, it makes it really easy to share with all of the other people who I was with. To do this, all I need to do is create a view-only shared link to the folder I want to share, and share it with everyone who I was with when I took those photos, or anyone else I want to see them. This link will allow anyone with access to it to view and download the photos inside that folder. If you’re not sure how to create shared links, you can find out everything you need to know here. Now, if your friends and family are anything like mine, you’ll know there are 2 types of people, those who take photos and those don’t. When I want to add photos that friends or family took to my collection, I use file request. This allows them to simply add their photos, which then go directly to my Dropbox account, allowing me to easily add them to the folder they belong in. You can find out more about using file request here. When it comes to using Dropbox for organizing photographs, there are literally hundreds of things you can do, and everyone uses it a little different to everyone else. Check out how our very own Sheena used Dropbox to help create a Christmas Family Calendar for another awesome example. We’d really love to hear how you plan on using Dropbox to organize your photos this Christmas, let us know in a comment below.
Best way to collect client uploads in one Dropbox folder and sort by client and date
I’m looking for some guidance on the best way to set up a streamlined upload flow for multiple clients. Goal I’d like to have a single upload point (for example, one shared link or form) that allows multiple clients to upload files without logging in. Ideally, when they upload: They provide their email address or name Dropbox automatically routes those files into a folder structure like: Client Name (or email) → Submission date → Uploaded files So, over time I’d end up with something like /Client A/email@clienta.com/2025-11-14/…files /Client B/email@clientb.com/2025-11-20/…files etc. Questions Is there a native Dropbox feature (e.g. File Requests or similar) that can: accept uploads from multiple people via one URL, and also capture who uploaded what in a way that could be used to organise files per client? If not fully possible natively, what’s the best-practice approach people have used? Multiple File Requests? Dropbox + a form tool (Typeform, Jotform, etc.) + Zapier/Make to create folders and move files based on email address? Any recommended automations / templates that already do this? I’m comfortable using third-party automation tools if needed, but I’d love to understand what’s realistically achievable within Dropbox first, and what the most robust setup would be.
Files not showing up in File Requests folder
Device Dell Operating System/Browser (if using the web) Windows 10 Pro Question or Issue I set up a File Request for members of our alumni group to upload reunion photos and I received several emails from Dropbox that various photos had been uploaded, but when I tried to view them in Dropbox only photos from one of the emails show up in my File Request folder. I believe I have enough space remaining in my account. Any idea why the other photo image files are not showing up? If they were uploaded as the email indicates, where might they be? I am not that savvy with Dropbox, so any assistance would be appreciated!
Is there a way for non-Dropbox users to upload files without requiring their name or email?
I often need a place for people to upload files, which I can then download. These people are never Dropbox members – they are external customers of mine. How can I do this, without requiring them to enter a name and email address? It's annoying for them, and it's not essential -- and if you use that information for marketing, you're not cool. Nobody likes that. The only way I know is File Requests, but that requires people to enter a name and email. Help would be greatly appreciated.
Where can I locate the File Request option when visiting my account online?
I'm looking to share a folder with clients so they have a folder to upload files for me. I'm constantly using "Share Folder" as that's what it feels like I'm doing, but instead I should do File Requests, as the clients don't need to see any other clients' file submissions. Anyway, I can't get started on this, as the instructions say this: But instead what I see is this: MAIN QUESTION: So where does it say "New Request" on here? I thought it used to be here, but I couldn't find it. So I tried "Upload" and pointed it to an existing folder. But that just made a duplicate of it which looked like it was going to do exactly what Share Folder does, which is share a folder that all clients would need to download all contents in order to have access. Lesser question: Also, what's the difference between Create and Create Folder? Are they suggesting one would create a "file" in dropbox? I don't want to, necessarily...I'm just curious why user would want to share anything but a folder or an already created file.Why did the "request files" option get removed from the right-click options in the Dropbox folder?
Can someone provide some sort of explanation why the (Dropbox) 'Request files' function has disappeared from the drop-down menu (Mac). The function is still possible, but now it is buried away and (as far as I can establish) only accessible via a browser. This really makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. If anyone could enlighten me about this "develpoment" I would be very grateful. Thank you
