How do I set team-wide sharing permissions?
Customizing your team’s permissions is a great way to make the most of your Dropbox team account. Keep reading to explore how you can set and manage these permissions effectively.
10 minute read
Team sharing permissions
Setting team-wide sharing permissions is key to any admin’s job. Whether you want users to be able to share files and folders externally or keep everything within the company, you’ve got the power to make that call.
It’s important to understand how your team operates before you set those permissions. Do they send content back and forth for reviews with clients? If yes, limiting their ability to share externally might slow everyone down.
Tip: permissions aren’t retroactive! If you change sharing permissions to limit external sharing, files, folders, and links previously shared with people outside the company will stay that way.
Shared folder permissions
Shared folders are great for groups of people who work and collaborate on the same files. If a user owns a shared folder, then they can change permissions, which gives users a lot of flexibility in how they work. Keep in mind that any user can own a shared folder and set permissions for it—this isn’t just for admins.
If you own the shared folder
If you’re an editor
If you’re a viewer
Shared link permissions
If you want to share access to a file you can also share a link.
There are specific links for editing and specific links for viewing, which makes it easier to manage edit access to shared documents and folders.
Admins have visibility and control of shared links through tools like the Activity Log and the External Sharing Visibility report.
As an admin, you can control how your team members share links with people outside of your team from the admin console. Take a look at the different permissions below.
Team only, new links
If you choose to make shared links Team only, by default, when your team members create links, they won't be accessible to non-team members. Team members can still modify this to “only invited” or “anyone.”
Team only, existing links
If you choose to make shared links Team only, that setting will apply retroactively. Any existing shared links will no longer be accessible to non-team members.
Adjust shared link permissions
Make sure your team is sharing links with all the correct permissions in place.
Your trusty admin console
First thing’s first:
Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
Click Admin console in the left sidebar.
Click Settings.
Under Content, click Sharing.
Common questions
Got a question about team-wide permissions? We’ve likely got an answer. If you have a question that’s not listed here, check our help center for more answers.