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mikkelHC's avatar
mikkelHC
New member | Level 2
6 years ago

Sharing a path to folder between coworkers

How would i send a path to my coworker that he/she can copy to his file explorer and it will direct him to the correct path?

 

The link function will give me a webpage, but i would like something that i can put in a email,  and it will link to the folder that he/she have synced on his/hers computer. 


  • mikkelHC wrote:

    How would i send a path to my coworker that he/she can copy to his file explorer and it will direct him to the correct path?


    Dropbox has no such function.

    The path to a file on your computer will not be the same as the path to a file on someone else's computer, even if that file is in the same folder structure within Dropbox. By default, each user's Dropbox folder is located within their computer user profile, which often includes that person's name or username in the path. That means a link to a file on your computer will not work on anyone else's comptuer. Add to that the fact that people can freely rename shared folders to anything they want without impacting the functionality of the share, and that just complicates it even more.

    The only way for a full path to a file on your comptuer to work on other comptuers, is if everyone has Dropbox in the exact same location and haven't renamed the shared folder that the file is located in. If that's the case, you can just copy the path to the file from Explorer/Finder and share is at you like.

  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    Hey there (mikkelHC), I’d appreciate if you could clarify how you’ve pictured Dropbox coming into play in this type of configuration, just in order to ensure that I’m following-up on the right thing. 
     
    From there, I’m wondering if you’ve had a chance to check back on how sharing a folder :dividers: with “Can Edit” 👥 rights would work for you. While the folder path will be different on your co-worker’s end (as it should reside on his device), anything added there will be reflected on both ends, so you’ll be able to see any changes made in real-time. 
     
    (Note: If you decide to go down that route, one thing to bear in mind is that a Dropbox account can't sync more than its quota, so a 2 GB account can't sync more than 2 GB, including the space taken up by shared folders. Because every member of a shared folder can add and modify the files in the share, it takes up space in each member's account by default.)
     
    Hopefully this is- even slightly- helpful to you, however please do let me know here in case I’ve misunderstood your request in any way. Thanks for posting us on our Community & I’m wishing you a wonderful Friday ahead! 
    • MikkelCallesen's avatar
      MikkelCallesen
      New member | Level 2

      Hi Jane


      Thanks for the reply.
      Apperently i was writing from my private dp, not my work. Thus MikkelHC and MikkelCallesen is the same person. 

      I will try clerify my question.
      We have person A and person B. 
      Both are members of the same team/organisation. 
      We have app 20TB of space, and less than 10% is used. 

      If person A want to direct person B to a specifik file or folder person A can today that wia the dropbox-link system.  This will direct Person B to a webpage with the chosen foler or file.

       
      Question:
      Is there a way for person A to send a link, of sorts, that will direct person B to the folder or file, in the person B file explorere. Thus not using a browser to access the file and without having person B manually navigate to the folder or file in question. ?

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

    mikkelHC wrote:

    How would i send a path to my coworker that he/she can copy to his file explorer and it will direct him to the correct path?


    Dropbox has no such function.

    The path to a file on your computer will not be the same as the path to a file on someone else's computer, even if that file is in the same folder structure within Dropbox. By default, each user's Dropbox folder is located within their computer user profile, which often includes that person's name or username in the path. That means a link to a file on your computer will not work on anyone else's comptuer. Add to that the fact that people can freely rename shared folders to anything they want without impacting the functionality of the share, and that just complicates it even more.

    The only way for a full path to a file on your comptuer to work on other comptuers, is if everyone has Dropbox in the exact same location and haven't renamed the shared folder that the file is located in. If that's the case, you can just copy the path to the file from Explorer/Finder and share is at you like.

    • MikkelCallesen's avatar
      MikkelCallesen
      New member | Level 2

      Hi Rich

      I was hoping there might be a way to do this, as enviroment variables gives me this functionallity with; APPDATA and Onedrive among others. 

      It does not need to be a full path, like %APPDATA%\Roaming  will lead you to same folder on my and your computer. Maybe one could have a %DropBox%\.........


      • Rich's avatar
        Rich
        Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

        MikkelCallesen wrote:

        Maybe one could have a %DropBox%\.........



        You can easily create that yourself if you have everyone use the same variable. Just remember that if anyone renames any shared folder that you're trying to link to, the path will still fail. Anyone can rename a shared folder and it will only be renamed for that user, yet it will continue to function and sync normally.