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How Connie, a member of the Community, uses Dropbox
We love hearing how you, the Community members use Dropbox. Everyone has their own favorite features and little hacks, so we want to share some with you! Up first, we haveConnie (ConF2_0), a long time Dropbox Plus customer, member of the Dropbox Community, and avid Vault user. Connie sat down with Gavin, a member of our Dropbox team, and told him all about how she uses Dropbox and why she loves Vault. I am Connie and I currently live in Germany. I've lived here for two years now. I've been a speech language pathologist for more than 30 years and that's what brought me to Dropbox, actually. I worked in a school setting for years and I frequently needed to be able to take work home. I needed a way to do this without having to carry stuff and make copies. I could email my spreadsheets, and reports and things, but I kept thinking “I don't know, emailing doesn't really make me comfortable - it's supposed to be really secure, but I'm not sure." I honestly cannot remember how I stumbled on Dropbox but I thought, “Oh, this is perfect!”, so I set up my account and I've been a user ever since. I was able to start writing my notes and reports at school, and then put them in Dropbox and finish them up when I got home. I could work on my spreadsheets and lesson materials at home and have them back at school waiting for me the next day. My only concern was that as a health care provider, you need to be able to ensure security and privacy. Before Vault, I was using a third party app to encrypt my school files. I thought “there's got to be another way, Dropbox has got to be able to do this”. That third party app was sometimes cumbersome and I'd lock myself out of files. Now, it's so easy - anything that I need to have protected gets uploaded to the Vault - done. No extra passwords to remember, no extra copying and/or downloading! Thanks Connie! We love to hear stories like this and how we can make Dropbox better for all of you. How do you use Dropbox? Tell us in the comments below! Share your tips, tricks, the features you love and how you make the most of Dropbox, whether it’s at home, at work or at school!Using your mobile device to stay in the loop while working from home
When you’re in the office, you may be used to working exclusively on a laptop or desktop computer. Now that you’re working from home you may want to change your habits, and make more use of your mobile devices. Learn how to make the most of your mobile access to Dropbox. Access your Dropbox files and folders anywhere by downloading the Dropbox app to your phone or tablet, it’s available on Android, iPhone, iPad, and Windows mobile. Once you download the app and sign in you can; Find all your Dropbox files and folders are right there and ready to use so you can check in easily, without booting up the computer Take photos and videos using your built-in camera and save them directly to your Dropbox, which is helpful if you’ve found yourself scribbling on physical paper lately Make important files available for offline access— Dropbox will automatically upload any changes once you’re back online Share your files with coworkers via links in an email, text messaging, or another app, so everyone is in the loop, even if they’re not at their desk right now. If you already have Dropbox on your phone for personal files, but you want to connect your Dropbox Business account to keep in touch with the team, don’t worry, they can both be logged in and kept separate, so you don’t upload secret family recipes to your team work space. Here are the instructions on how to connect your personal and work Dropbox accounts for simple but separate access. If you don’t want to download an app, you can also access your Dropbox files and folders from a mobile browser. Visit dropbox.com on your mobile device and we'll automatically redirect you to the mobile-optimized website. Have you been working differently when you’re not in the office?
iPad Files app not showing Dropbox folders and how I managed to solve this.
In working with a new iPad, I discovered that the Files app was not correctly connecting with Dropbox. No Dropbox folders showed up either in the Files app or in any other app with an open feature that would normally have been able to access Dropbox files. Oddly, when I clicked “Dropbox” in the list, there were no folders but I could add a folder and that new folder showed up in Dropbox on other devices (and in the Dropbox app on the iPad)! So there was some connection but not much… This is not an issue I’m experiencing on any of my other Apple devices (Mac or iOS). In talking with Apple support they had me delete the Files app, reboot the iPad, then reinstall “Files.” I did that, but to no effect. They escalated me to a higher level of support but while I was waiting, I also deleted Dropbox and reinstalled it. That solved the problem! So, if you can’t access your Dropbox folders and files in Files or in any of your other iPad apps, just delete and reinstall Dropbox—problem solved (at least for me, this time!)How to free up space with online and offline file options
Storing and saving your files is important, and making sure your files are available where you need them can help with that. So, let’s figure out if you need to have your files available online or offline. Why should I make my Dropbox files available offline? Whatever device you’re using with Dropbox, whether it’s a computer, tablet, or phone, you can make your files and folders available offline. This is similar to downloading your files, except it also keeps them in Dropbox. This way, your files are saved offline on your device as well as online in your Dropbox account. So, whether you’re on the move, or you have wifi that drops, you can make your files available offline and keep on working. While you’re offline, changes made to your offline files won’t “sync”. This means that the changes you make offline won’t sync between your offline device and everywhere else you access your files in Dropbox. Once you are back online, Dropbox will sync the changes you made to your offline files everywhere you access them in Dropbox. How do I make files available offline? The short version of it is, within your Dropbox folder in File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac), find the file you’re looking for and right-click on it, and then simply choose Make available offline. Easy! For more info, you can head over here. What are Dropbox online-only files? As the name suggests, these files are available only when you’re online. Since this frees up space on your computer or your hard drive, it is the perfect option if your laptop is at capacity, but you still want to access your files. If you set a file or folder to online-only, you’ll still see the file or folder in the Dropbox folder on your computer, but it’s just a placeholder. You can only open it if you’re connected to internet. Dropbox removes it from your computer’s hard drive, so that it only takes up space in your Dropbox account online. How to make a file or folder online-only: To set a file or folder to online-only manually: Open File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac). Open the Dropbox folder. Right-click the file or folder you’d like to set to online-only. Under Quick Actions, click Make online-only. If you’d like to save your file or folder back to your computer’s hard drive, repeat this step and click Make available offline. So, now you know the difference between online-only and offline files and when each one might suit better. So, why not look at your files and folders and see if you can free up some space? Do you separate your files depending on where and when you need them?What’s included in my Dropbox plan? Plus edition
If you use Dropbox there are a ton of amazing features available to you, but different plans have different features so we want to make sure you know exactly what you have access to! This time, we’re going to focus on Dropbox Plus accounts - so listen up if you’re a Plus user. Here is a list of the features available to Plus users, that I’m sure most people are already aware of, or using regularly already, but it never hurts to be reminded! 2 TB (2,000 GB) of storage space. Shared folders and links - learn the ins and outs of links here. Dropbox Paper - this is a big one, so here’s a refresher on that. Anywhere access Integrated desktop experience Best-in-class sync technology Mobile offline folders Camera upload Send up to 2 GB per Transfer File requests Web previews and comments Viewer info Remote device wipe File recovery and version history - 30-day history Dropbox Rewind - 30-day history Full text search Plus button Web previews and comments Integrated cloud content 256-bit AES and SSL/TLS encryption So those are the ones you likely already know, but there are some new and exciting features for Dropbox Plus users this year as well, and now’s your chance to learn all about them. Dropbox Family The Dropbox Family plan has 2 TB of storage space that can be shared by up to 6 members, even grandparents or kids away at college. With Dropbox Family, you and your family can securely organize and share content, like photos, videos, and important documents. Dropbox Passwords: Dropbox Passwords lets you seamlessly sign in to websites and apps by storing your passwords. The Passwords app remembers your usernames and passwords on all your devices—so you don’t have to. Dropbox Vault: Dropbox Vault helps you secure and organize your most sensitive information in the cloud. Vault is a PIN-protected folder in your Dropbox account that you can access any time and on any device. There’s even more new features, including Computer Backup, Hellosign and the App Centre so you can get more details here. Support: If you need help with your Plus account, you have access to priority email support, the Help Centre, and of course the Dropbox Community is always here to help.What you need to know about storing and backing up your photos with Dropbox
We see a lot of questions about storing, sharing and backing up your photos on Dropbox so here are some tips to make that as easy as possible! Back up photos automatically to your Dropbox account You know we love an automatic process, so whether it’s your camera roll photos, your screenshots or your document scans, your cloud photos are some of the most important files you have. In fact our own Emmet told us about a time when he almost lost his photos due to a tech malfunction - “One of my old hard drives of photos got corrupted several years ago. This was almost a year of photos. Thankfully, lot of these had been saved to my Dropbox account automatically, and this was important as a couple who I was friends with wanted a high definition photo of them from the first night they went out together, and I was only able to share it on their wedding day because it was saved on Dropbox.“ Keeping full-resolution copies backed up with online photo storage means you can access them anytime, and you know there is a safe and secure copy in the cloud. Here are just a few ways Dropbox can keep your photos safe: Camera uploads: Once you turn this on, photos from your phone or tablet will be automatically backed up to Dropbox. Or in our desktop app, photos will be copied from cameras, memory cards, or mobile devices whenever you connect one to your computer. Screenshot backups: You can set up our desktop app to automatically move screenshot images to your Dropbox, or have mobile device screenshots backed up using camera uploads. Document scanning: The native/built-in scan functionality in the Dropbox mobile app lets you use your phone’s camera to scan and make digital backups of receipts, whiteboards, and paper documents. Share your photos with links, shared folders and control access Storing your photos is great, but chances are you will want to share some - whether it’s with family members, teammates or the expense team at work. There are a few ways you can do that, and you can manage the access with a few clicks as well. Shared links: You can easily create a link to share any file or folder in your Dropbox. Copy and paste your link into an email, text message, or chat, to share with anyone—even if they don’t have a Dropbox account. Access control: Keep your photos in the right hands by adding password protection, expiration dates, and sign-in requirements to your shared links. Shared folders: Want to collect your photos and someone else’s in the same place? Share files back and forth by inviting other people to sync a folder between your account and theirs. Organize your photos: Saving and sharing your photos can be great but it’s no use if you can’t find the one your looking for, so organizing and viewing your photos is essential too! Here are some tips on how to do that, and if that’s not enough you can see how our own Eliene organizes her photos. Photo browsing: View and browse all of your photos and videos from the Photos tab in our mobile app or on the web. Image previews: View over 35 image file types from dropbox.com or our mobile app. You can preview common files like JPEG, PNG, TIFF, and GIF; app-specific types like Photoshop and Illustrator; raw formats like CR2, DCR, and DNG; and even iOS HEIC photos. Best of all, there’s no need for special photo software. Image tagging: Find your photos fast by adding searchable hashtags to individual photos or an entire folder. How do you manage your photos with Dropbox? Share your tips in the comments below, or if you have any questions you, we can answer those too!
