Sharing and collaborating on files

Dropbox makes sharing your files and folders easy. It allows multiple people to view , download , and comment on files, as well as edit Microsoft Office files. This makes it a great tool to use when you need to collaborate with others on certain projects.

Sharing files and folders

When you share something on Dropbox, you have the option of sharing either an individual file or a folder containing files . Each option provides different levels of access to files, so you'll want to take this into consideration when choosing one.

• Sharing a file : This allows others to download, preview, and comment on the file. However, they will not be able to edit or collaborate on it with you.
• Sharing a folder : This allows others to perform all of the same actions listed above on each of the files in the folder. They'll also be able to edit and collaborate on Microsoft Office files .

Whether you share a file or a folder will depend on why you're sharing it in the first place. If you need to collaborate on a file, you'll want to share a folder. If you just need to send a file or share something like a photo or video, you can just share the individual file.

To share a file with a limited group of people:

1. Locate the file you'd like to share. Hover your mouse over it and click the Share button on the right side of the screen.
   
2. A dialog box will appear. In the To: form, type the email addresses of the people you'd like the share the file with. If you want, you can add a message that will be emailed to the people you share the file with.
3. Click Share . Your file will be shared.
   

Sharing with a link

You can easily share a file with a larger group of people by providing a link to any file in your Dropbox. A link is basically a URL or web address for any file you want to share. This can be especially helpful for files that would be too large to send as an email attachment, like music or video files. You can also share a file by posting the link to a public webpage. Anyone who clicks the link will be redirected to the file.

To share a link:

1. Locate the file you'd like to share. Hover your mouse over it and click the Share button on the right side of the screen.
   
2. A dialog box will appear. Click Create a link .
   
3. Click Copy link to copy it to your clipboard. You can then paste the link in an email message or online to share the file. When you're finished, click the X to close the dialog box.
   

Files shared with you

People can also choose to share files with you. You'll receive a notification when this happens. You can also view these files by clicking the Shared tab on the left. At the top of the page, you can click either Files or Folders , depending on what you'd like to view.

Collaborating on files

Dropbox offers several collaboration tools that allow you communicate more easily with others . Whenever you share a file or folder with Dropbox, the recipient(s) will be able to preview, download and comment on it (as well as edit it, if it's a Microsoft Office file).

Click the buttons in the interactive below to become more familiar with the collaboration features in Dropbox.

edit hotspots

Close

Click the X button to close the preview of this document.

Share

You can use the Share button to share your file with others by email invitation or via a link.

Open

You can click the Open button to open the file. If it's a Microsoft Office file, it will open using Office Online. Depending on the type, other files may open in the browser you're using or in their respective programs.

More

Click the More button to access other actions like removing the share link from your file, downloading the file, viewing previous versions , and managing comment and notification settings .

Hide/Show Comments

Click this button to hide or show the comments pane .

Comment Form

You can comment on a file using the comment form . Everyone you've shared this file with will be able to see your comment and leave their own comments. To post a comment, simply type your comment and click Post .

Comment on Specific Areas

In addition to leaving comments in the comment pane, you can comment on specific areas of a file. Click this button and select or highlight the area of the file you'd like to comment on. Your comment and the area you selected will have the same number, as shown in our example.

Comments

When you post a comment on a file, it will appear here in the comments pane .

File Preview

This is a preview of the file you're sharing with others.