12 Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do With Dropbox

Dropbox debuted in 2008, and the cloud storage and syncing service has added a slew of options since then. But as a result of the app is often operating within the background of your system, you won’t have seen a number of the new instruments you should use. Here are a couple of of our favorites.

1. Go Back in Time

While you’ll be able to all the time roll again to previous versions of particular person recordsdata, the Dropbox Rewind function for paid subscribers allows you to return in time for giant teams of recordsdata, folders, or your total Dropbox—that’s very useful if lots of recordsdata have been corrupted, for instance. Log in on the net, click on All recordsdata, then click on the three dots on the prime (on your total Dropbox) or the three dots subsequent to any folder—you’ll see Rewind this folder is likely one of the choices.

2. Convert Files Between Formats 

Dropbox just lately added some useful file conversion instruments which now you can entry via the net interface. Click the three dots subsequent to any file and select Save as… to choose a brand new file sort. You can convert a bunch of in style file varieties (together with Word paperwork, wealthy textual content recordsdata, and GIFs) into PDFs, JPEGs, or PNG recordsdata, relying on the kind of file you’re working with. The unique file doesn’t change, and stays the place it’s.

3. Use Dropbox With Office

There’s a small however helpful manner you will get Dropbox and Microsoft Office working a bit nearer collectively on Windows: Open the Dropbox consumer from the notification space (system tray), click on your profile image then Preferences, and below General test the field marked Show Dropbox as a save location in Microsoft Office—it means you will get your Word, Excel, and PowerPoint recordsdata to your Dropbox folders with fewer clicks.

4. Install the Desktop App 

From Windows and macOS, you’ll be able to handle your recordsdata via the net interface, or via File Explorer or Finder, however there’s another choice: the Dropbox desktop app. Install it, and it makes all the pieces from file sharing to folder looking out just a bit bit simpler. If you spend lots of your working day inside Dropbox, manipulating recordsdata and who has entry to them, the Dropbox desktop app could be a actual enhance to your productiveness.

5. Lock Away Sensitive Files

Dropbox permits you to arrange a particular vault folder in your account, one which is protected by an additional PIN code and which third-party plug-ins don’t have entry to. To get began, signal into Dropbox on the net, click on your profile image (prime proper) then Settings, and below General click on the Set up button subsequent to Vault. For extra on the function, together with how your locked away recordsdata seem on cellular and the desktop, take a look at the Dropbox support page.

6. Move Your Dropbox Folder

You don’t should accept the default location on the subject of the place your Dropbox folder is situated in your pc—you’ll be able to transfer it nearly anyplace on the native onerous drive. Open the Dropbox consumer from the notification space on Windows or the menu bar on macOS, click on your profile image and Preferences, then go to the Sync tab to search out the choice to maneuver your Dropbox folder (which might take a while in the event you’ve bought lots of recordsdata).

7. Share Dropbox With Your Family

Like most digital companies today, you’ll be able to share the advantages of Dropbox with the remainder of your loved ones if you wish to. You get 2TB of cloud storage in whole that may be shared with as much as six totally different individuals, and also you get a shared Family Room folder that everybody has entry to. Other options, together with password administration and Dropbox Paper, are included for everybody, and the entire package deal will set you again $20 per thirty days.

8. Show Off Your Work

Dropbox Professional is a $20-per-month subscription plan that provides you a couple of further instruments (and 3TB of space for storing), in addition to all the usual Dropbox options. Those additional instruments embody choices so as to add branding to your digital work, and to get visitors insights (reminiscent of whether or not or not recordsdata have been seen) on all the pieces you share, which good if you wish to put collectively a portfolio of labor that different individuals are granted entry to.

9. Upload Some Photos and Videos, Not All

Another new function Dropbox has just lately added is the flexibility to add some however not all the photographs and movies in your telephone to the net. In the Dropbox app for iOS, faucet Account, Camera Uploads, and Upload from to decide on which albums (together with auto-generated sensible albums) you’d like to incorporate. At the time of writing the function hasn’t arrived within the Dropbox app for Android, nevertheless it needs to be exhibiting up quickly.

10. Send Files to Anyone

Dropbox comes with its personal sturdy file and folder sharing system, however there’s additionally a separate Dropbox Transfer device out there. It provides you some additional options (stats on file views and downloads, for instance), and the recipient received’t want a Dropbox account. To use Dropbox Transfer, signal into Dropbox on the net, click on the grid icon to the highest left, and select Dropbox Transfer—the utmost file dimension is dependent upon the plan you’re on.

11. Browse Dropbox on the Web More Easily

The Dropbox net interface has simply been given a revamp that makes it work extra like File Explorer on Windows or Finder on macOS. On the left you’ll see an All recordsdata hyperlink that reveals all of your folders and subfolders so as. Select a file or folder, and also you get an information pane on the appropriate (click on the data button if it’s hidden). Click the icon to the highest proper above the file checklist, and you’ll swap between Grid, Large grid, List, and Large checklist views.

12. Manage Your Passwords

On prime of all the pieces else, Dropbox does password administration now—although in the event you’re not on a paid plan, you’re restricted to 50 logins and three units. Dropbox Passwords works very like different password managers, masking fee card data in addition to all of your login credentials. There’s a browser extension for whenever you’re working on the net and cellular apps for Android and iOS that may sync your knowledge to your smartphone, too.