What is Dropbox?
Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere. This means that any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, phones and even the Dropbox website.
Dropbox also makes it super easy to share with others, whether you’re a student or professional, parent or grandparent. Even if you accidentally spill a latte on your laptop, have no fear! You can relax knowing that Dropbox always has you covered, and none of your stuff will ever be lost.
Dropbox synchronizes your files between computers. Whenever you create a Dropbox folder on one computer, files you put inside it get copied to all of your other computers’ Dropbox folders. That way, you don’t have to carry around a flash drive!
Feel free to take THE TOUR about DROPBOX!
About Dropbox
Dropbox is a free service that lets you bring all your photos, docs, and videos anywhere, and share them easily. Any file you save to your Dropbox will automatically save to all your computers, your phone or iPad, and the Dropbox website. Dropbox also makes it easy to share with others. And if your computer melts down, you can restore all your files from the Dropbox website with a couple clicks.
Global growth
- Dropbox has more than 100,000,000 users.
- People save one billion files to Dropbox every 24 hours.
- Dropbox is offered in eight languages: English, Spanish, Castilian Spanish, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Italian.
- Dropbox has paying customers in over 200 countries.
Company background
- Founded: June 2007
- Product launch: September 2008
- Dropbox for Teams launch: In October 2011, Dropbox launched Teams with administrative controls and plenty of space for workplace collaboration.
- Dropbox Developer platform supports thousands of apps including Docs to Go, CloudOn, GoodReader, 1Password, with millions of monthly actives.
- Funding: $257.2 M from Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, Index Ventures, Benchmark Capital, Goldman Sachs, Greylock Partners, Institutional Venture Partners, RIT Capital Partners, and Valiant Capital Partners.
How Dropbox works
Dropbox makes all your files available to you from any computer or phone. It’s as easy as adding any file to your Dropbox folder. You can start working at the office and finish from home without ever needing to think about where your files are – they are always with you.
Joining Dropbox is easy: installing the Dropbox software (free for Windows, Mac and Linux) creates a special folder on your computer. Anything you add to this Dropbox folder will automatically save to all your computers and to the Dropbox website. You can also invite people to share any folder in your Dropbox. This makes Dropbox perfect for team projects or sharing photos with family or friends – it will be as if you are saving straight to their desktop. The Dropbox mobile apps (free for iPhone, Android and BlackBerry) let you take your life on the road. And because Dropbox keeps a one month history of your work, you can go back in time to fix mistakes or rescue deleted files.
Dropbox offers 2 GB free to start and you can earn up to 16 GB additional space for referring friends, or upgrade to a Pro account with up to 500 GB and 32 GB for referrals. Dropbox for Teams accounts for businesses start at 1 TB for 5 users. Learn more atwww.dropbox.com/pricing.
The story of Dropbox
Dropbox was founded in 2007 by Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi. Frustrated by working from multiple computers, Drew was inspired to create a service that would let people bring all their files anywhere, with no need to email around attachments. Drew coded a demo of Dropbox and showed it to fellow MIT student Arash Ferdowsi, who dropped out with only one semester left to help make Dropbox a reality. Guiding their decisions was a relentless focus on crafting a simple and reliable experience across every computer and phone.
Features
Your photos, docs and videos, anywhere
Any file you save to Dropbox also instantly saves to your computers, phones, and the Dropbox website.
- Work even when offline. You always have your files, whether or not you have a connection.
- Your files are always available from the secure Dropbox website.
- Dropbox works with Windows, Mac, Linux, iPhone, iPad, Android and BlackBerry.
Simple sharing
Shared folders and links allow people to work together and send large files in a snap.
- Invite friends, family or teammates to a folder. It’ll be as if you saved the folder to their computers.
- See other people’s changes instantly.
- Create a link to files and folders in your Dropbox to friends and coworkers – even if they don’t use Dropbox.
Dropbox mobile
Apps for iPhone, iPad, Android, and BlackBerry keep your Dropbox always at hand.
- Bring your files with you when you’re on the go.
- Edit files in your Dropbox from your phone.
- Share freely with family and friends.
- Automatically upload your photos and videos to Dropbox (available for Android).
Your stuff is safe
Dropbox protects your files without you needing to think about it.
- Dropbox keeps a one-month history of your work.
- Any changes can be undone, and files can be undeleted.
- Transmission of files occurs over an encrypted channel (SSL) where supported, and files are encrypted when stored on Dropbox’s servers.
Setting Up Dropbox for the First Time
The following instructions are for Macintosh computers. To set up Dropbox at home, just go to dropbox.com and follow the directions, but they are VERY close for a PC.
PC Instructions are here: https://www.dropbox.com/downloading?os=win
1. Go to dropbox.com
2. Click Download Dropbox
3. A dropbox.dmg file will be downloaded to your computer. Open that file.
4. Now look at your desktop. Double-click the white box labelled Dropbox.
5. A window appears with a blue background. Try dragging Dropbox to the Applications folder.
6. Double-click Dropbox. The installation window appears.
7. If you already have a Dropbox account, pick I have a Dropbox account and skip to the next section. Otherwise, just click Next.
8. Type in your name, e-mail address and a password to create an account. The password is a secret only to you so please keep record.
9. Click through the brief Dropbox tutorial.
10. Once you’re done, your Dropbox folder should open up. Leave it open for the next step.
Sharing Your Work Folder
1. If your Dropbox folder isn’t open, click on the Dropbox icon in the top right corner of the screen. Then, click Open Dropbox Folder.
2. In the Dropbox folder, right-click and click New Folder. Try to Create a folder indicating a subject closely related to what you’re uploading. For instance if you want to upload several new images for our website or brochure, just title the folder “Website New Images 12-28-12“. This will help keep us organized so that our Master folder will contain individual folders of key assets!
3. Right-click on your newly created “Website New Images 12-28-12” folder. On the Dropbox menu, pick Share This Folder.
4. A browser window will open up, asking you for an email address to share the folder with. Type away!! and click Share.
Accepting Invites
1. Log into your Dropbox with your e-mail address and password you choose upon set-up.
2. On the left side, click Sharing.
3. Click on the invitation you received.
4. Click on ACCEPT.
Dropbox FAQs
Check remaining space on the Dropbox website
- Sign in to the Dropbox website
- On the top right of the screen, click on your name to get the account menu
- The bar under your email address represents your Dropbox space usage
Amount of space left on a Dropbox account from the account menu
For more detail, you can click on Settings to be taken to your account settings. For a shortcut, clickhere.
How secure is Dropbox?
Dropbox takes the security and the safety of your data very seriously. We use the best tools and engineering practices available to build and maintain Dropbox, and we have a dedicated security team making sure that Dropbox remains secure. Your files are stored securely and backed-up. Your account login is protected by many layers of security including password and two-step verification.
Other Dropbox users can’t see your files in Dropbox unless you deliberately share links to files or share folders.
Dropbox employees are prohibited from viewing the content of files you store in your account. Employees may access file metadata (e.g., file names and locations) when they have a legitimate reason, like providing technical support. Like most online services, we have a small number of employees who must be able to access user data for the reasons stated in our privacy policy (e.g., when legally required to do so). But that’s the rare exception, not the rule. We have strict policy and technical access controls that prohibit employee access except in these rare circumstances. In addition, we employ a number of physical, technical, and heuristic security measures to protect user information from unauthorized access.
For our advanced users
- Dropbox uses modern encryption methods to both transfer and store your data.
- Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and AES-256 bit encryption.
- Dropbox website and client software are constantly being hardened to enhance security and protect against attacks.
- Two-step verification is available for an extra layer of security at login. You can choose to receive security codes by text message or via any Time-Based One-Time Password (TOTP) apps, such as those listed here.
- Public files are only viewable by people who have a link to the file(s).
Dropbox uses Amazon’s Simple Storage Service (S3) for storage, which has a robust security policy of its own. You can find more information on Amazon’s data security from the S3 site or, read more about how Dropbox and Amazon securely stores data.
Access via third-party apps
Some third party apps with Dropbox integration will ask for permission to access your Dropbox. To grant access, you will need to log in to your Dropbox account and explicitly press the Authorizebutton when prompted. You can visit the My Apps section of your account settings to review the apps you’ve granted permission to and revoke access at your discretion.
How do I rejoin a shared folder?
If you’ve left a shared folder accidentally or your shared folder no longer syncs (files appear to be old or missing), you can rejoin it through the Dropbox website.
Rejoin a Shared Folder from the Dropbox website:
- Sign in to the Dropbox website (if you haven’t already)
- Click on Sharing from the sidebar on the left
- Select the Past folders from the drop-down menu on the top right of the page
- Click on the icon next to the folder you’d like to rejoin and press Rejoin
Share a folder on the Dropbox website
To share an existing folder, the folder has to be in your Dropbox folder. You can create a folder in your Dropbox folder just as you would anywhere else on your hard drive.
- Sign in to the Dropbox website
- Click on Sharing from the sidebar on the left
- Press the button labeled New shared folder
The New shared folder button
Create a shared folder from the file browser
You can also create shared folders by selecting an existing folder from the file browser and clickingInvite to folder from the blue bar across the top. For an even quicker shortcut, control-click the file or folder from the file browser and select Invite to folder from the contextual menu.
Share a folder on Mac OS X
If you haven’t already, install the Dropbox desktop application on your computer for seamless Dropbox integration.
- Open your Dropbox folder.
- Right-click or Control-click on the folder you want to share. A contextual menu will appear.
- Select Dropbox > Share This Folder… This will send you to the sharing page on the Dropbox website
Select Share This Folder… from the contextual menu - Enter the email addresses of whomever you want to add to your shared folder
- Add a personal message if you’d like and click Share Folder
How do I leave a shared folder?
You can leave a shared folder at any time from the folder’s sharing options. If you’re the owner of a shared folder, you have the ability to unshare the folder or remove (kick out) certain members of the shared folder.
Leave a shared folder
- Sign in to the Dropbox website
- Select Sharing tab from the sidebar on the left
- Click the Options link to the right of the shared folder
- Select the Members tab at the top of the resulting window
- Click Leave this shared folder button
Leave this shared folder button from Shared folder options window
