How to Share a Dropbox Folder

Creating a shared folder with Dropbox is simple and easy

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by Kat Aoki
Kat Aoki has nearly 10 years worth of professional IT and troubleshooting experience. She currently writes digital content for technology companies in the U.S. and Australia.
Updated March 26, 2019

Whether you've been a Dropbox user for a while or if you're just starting out, sharing a Dropbox folder with anyone in the world — even if the recipient doesn't have a Dropbox account — is very, very simple.

Here's how to do it.

How to Share a Dropbox Folder With a Link

  1. If you haven't already, you'll need to create a Dropbox account.

  2. Log into your Dropbox account.

  3. Click My Files on the left column of the page.

If you've followed the above steps, you'll now be in a window that shows different actions in the right column. These actions are: Upload files, Upload folders, New shared folder, and New folder, as shown below.

Dropbox folder options

The option you pick depends on where the folder you want to share resides, as explained below.

How to Share a Folder on Your Computer Using Dropbox

  1. If you already have a folder on your computer, select Upload Folders and pick the folder you want to upload to Dropbox.

  2. Once the folder is uploaded to Dropbox, click the Share button for the folder.

    To share a folder, you can either click the Share button under Members, or you can check the box to the left of the folder name, then click Share in the right column of the page.

  3. In the To section, enter the recipient's email address. You can also add a note for your recipient.

    Sending a Dropbox link to a recipient

  4. You can also set the permissions for the folder by clicking the Can edit dropdown.

    Setting Dropbox folder permissions

  5. Click the Share button again, and a link to your Dropbox shared folder will be sent to your recipient.

How to Create and Share a Folder in Dropbox

If the folder doesn't exist on your computer, you can create a new folder inside of your Dropbox account.

  1. In the right column, click New Folder.

  2. Under Name this folder, type in your folder name, then click Create.

    Create a new Dropbox folder

  3. You'll now be inside the newly created folder. You can add files here by clicking Upload files on the right. You can also drag existing Dropbox files and folders into your new folder by going back to My Files.

    Upload files to a Dropbox folder

  4. To share your new folder, click the Share button for the folder.

    To share a folder, you can either click the Share button under Members, or you can check the box to the left of the folder name, then click Share in the right column of the page.

  5. In the To section, enter the recipient's email address. You can also add a note for your recipient.

    Sending a Dropbox link to a recipient

  6. You can also set the permissions for the folder by clicking the Can edit dropdown.

    Setting Dropbox folder permissions

  7. Click the Share button again, and a link to your Dropbox shared folder will be sent to your recipient.

Creating a Shared Dropbox Folder is Easy

As you can see, creating a Dropbox shared folder is a straightforward process. Once your recipient receives your Dropbox link, they can access, preview, or download anything in the folder, even if they don't have a Dropbox account.