As an admin, you don’t have to go it alone! Setting up admin access for others on your team is simple.
7 minute read
With a little help
We all need a little help sometimes, even admins.
Pick a tier, any tier
Dropbox team accounts have several different admin tiers, each with its own set of capabilities and permissions. Before assigning an admin role, consider which tasks that person needs to perform, such as managing members, reviewing activity, adjusting security settings, managing content or billing, accessing reports, or helping monitor team storage. Some tools and settings are only available to certain types of admins, so choose the role that gives each admin the access they need without granting unnecessary permissions.
Tiered admins are available to Dropbox teams on Business Plus, Advanced, or Enterprise plans. Admins on a Standard team all have the same level of permissions (team admin).
Team admin
Team admins have full access to all admin permissions. They can manage members, settings, security, content, reports, and storage management tools across the team.
Only team admins can set other team members as admins or change admin roles. There must always be at least one team admin on a Dropbox team account.
User management admin
User management admins can address most team management tasks, including adding and removing team members, managing groups, and viewing a team’s activity feed. They can also create certain reports, including team storage reports and member data reports.
Support admin
Support admins can help team members with limited tasks, including resetting passwords. Support admins can also address common team requests, like restoring deleted files or helping team members locked out of two-step verification.
Billing admin
Billing admins can make payments and renew contracts.
Content admin
Content admins can set content permissions and manage content.
Compliance admin
Compliance admins can manage retention policies and legal holds. This admin role is only available to teams that have purchased the Data Governance add-on.
Reporting admin
Reporting admins can create reports on team activity, member data, and storage usage. For example, reporting admins can create team storage reports and member data reports.
Security admin
Security admins can manage security alerts, external sharing, and security risks.
With great power comes great responsibility
As an admin, giving another user admin access can be a great help to you. But before you do that, there are a few things to consider.
Security admin best practices
A security admin is essential to safeguard your organization's data from unauthorized access, breaches, and potential cyber threats.
They proactively manage permissions, monitor activity logs for suspicious behaviors, and enforce security measures like multi-factor authentication, which significantly reduces risks.
By having a dedicated security admin, your organization ensures ongoing data protection, compliance with regulations, and minimizes the chance of data loss or leaks, creating a more secure environment for collaboration.
Delegate better
Granting admin rights to others will make your life easier, but that doesn’t mean you need to give everyone access to everything. In the admin console on the Members page, you can give admin permissions to anyone you choose and pick which type of admin they’ll be.
Team admin best practices
Team admins have the highest level of control. They can set security and sharing permissions for the whole team, create other admins, and manage users. Usually small teams only need one team admin, but if your organization is growing rapidly, it might be best to assign another team admin.
User management admin best practices
Need a few extra hands to manage users as they transition in and out of your company? No problem. When you make someone a user management admin, they’ll be able to add and remove team members, manage groups, and view your team's activity feed.
Support admin best practices
Help desk tickets can pile up fast when you don’t have enough admins to tackle tasks. Support admins can reset passwords, manage basic account security, and view activity logs for users.
Billing admin best practices
A billing admin is essential for managing your organization's subscriptions, licenses, and overall costs effectively. They ensure that you’re using the correct number of licenses, keep track of renewal dates, and update billing information to prevent disruptions in service.
With a Billing Admin, you can stay on top of expenses, optimize your subscription plan based on team needs, and ensure the organization doesn’t incur unnecessary charges.
Content admin best practices
A content admin helps ensure your organization's files and folders are organized, accessible, and secure by managing permissions, folder structures, and content organization.
They can enforce best practices for naming conventions and access controls, ensuring sensitive information is protected while also making it easy for team members to collaborate.
Additionally, a content admin can monitor file activity, remove outdated content, and optimize storage usage, contributing to more efficient and secure workflows.
Compliance admin best practices
A compliance admin ensures that your organization adheres to data protection regulations and industry standards, safeguarding sensitive information.
They manage data retention and disposition policies and legal holds. Having a compliance admin helps reduce the risk of compliance violations, enhances data security, and supports audits, ensuring your organization meets all necessary legal obligations.
Reporting admin best practices
A reporting admin can help your team understand how members are using Dropbox by creating reports on team activity, member data, and storage usage.
For example, reporting admins can create team storage reports and member data reports. These reports can help your organization review storage usage and make informed decisions about how to manage team resources.
Security admin best practices
A security admin is essential to safeguard your organization's data from unauthorized access, breaches, and potential cyber threats.
They proactively manage permissions, monitor activity logs for suspicious behaviors, and enforce security measures like multi-factor authentication, which significantly reduces risks.
By having a dedicated security admin, your organization ensures ongoing data protection, compliance with regulations, and minimizes the chance of data loss or leaks, creating a more secure environment for collaboration.
Delegate better
Granting admin rights to others will make your life easier, but that doesn’t mean you need to give everyone access to everything. In the admin console on the Members page, you can give admin permissions to anyone you choose and pick which type of admin they’ll be.
Team admin best practices
Team admins have the highest level of control. They can set security and sharing permissions for the whole team, create other admins, and manage users. Usually small teams only need one team admin, but if your organization is growing rapidly, it might be best to assign another team admin.
User management admin best practices
Need a few extra hands to manage users as they transition in and out of your company? No problem. When you make someone a user management admin, they’ll be able to add and remove team members, manage groups, and view your team's activity feed.
Support admin best practices
Help desk tickets can pile up fast when you don’t have enough admins to tackle tasks. Support admins can reset passwords, manage basic account security, and view activity logs for users.
Billing admin best practices
A billing admin is essential for managing your organization's subscriptions, licenses, and overall costs effectively. They ensure that you’re using the correct number of licenses, keep track of renewal dates, and update billing information to prevent disruptions in service.
With a Billing Admin, you can stay on top of expenses, optimize your subscription plan based on team needs, and ensure the organization doesn’t incur unnecessary charges.
Content admin best practices
A content admin helps ensure your organization's files and folders are organized, accessible, and secure by managing permissions, folder structures, and content organization.
They can enforce best practices for naming conventions and access controls, ensuring sensitive information is protected while also making it easy for team members to collaborate.
Additionally, a content admin can monitor file activity, remove outdated content, and optimize storage usage, contributing to more efficient and secure workflows.
Compliance admin best practices
A compliance admin ensures that your organization adheres to data protection regulations and industry standards, safeguarding sensitive information.
They manage data retention and disposition policies and legal holds. Having a compliance admin helps reduce the risk of compliance violations, enhances data security, and supports audits, ensuring your organization meets all necessary legal obligations.
Reporting admin best practices
A reporting admin can help your team understand how members are using Dropbox by creating reports on team activity, member data, and storage usage.
For example, reporting admins can create team storage reports and member data reports. These reports can help your organization review storage usage and make informed decisions about how to manage team resources.
Security admin best practices
A security admin is essential to safeguard your organization's data from unauthorized access, breaches, and potential cyber threats.
They proactively manage permissions, monitor activity logs for suspicious behaviors, and enforce security measures like multi-factor authentication, which significantly reduces risks.
By having a dedicated security admin, your organization ensures ongoing data protection, compliance with regulations, and minimizes the chance of data loss or leaks, creating a more secure environment for collaboration.
Giving admin access
Follow the simple steps below to learn how to give admin access to your team.
How to add or change an admin
Log in to dropbox.com with your admin credentials.
Click Admin console in the left sidebar.
Click Members.
Click More next to the member you want to make an admin.
Click Make admin.
Select the correct admin permission level in the pop-up window and click Add.
Click Ok.
If a team uses Dropbox Replay, its team admins will automatically be assigned as admins in Replay.
Admins can’t be assigned for Replay alone. To assign a specific team member as a Dropbox Replay admin, they need to be added as a team admin in the admin console.
What if I want to remove or adjust someone’s admin permissions?
You can remove admin access from the admin console. Click Members, search for the admin you want to edit, then click More next to their name. From there, you can change their settings and permissions.
Can I customize my own admin tiers or access?
No, you can’t customize either. This means you can’t give a user management admin some of the permissions of a team admin.
Can another admin remove my own admin access?
That depends on their role. A team admin can remove your access, but a support admin can't.
