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Getting your account set up

Dropbox team accounts make it easy for teams to safely share and collaborate, no matter where you are, or what device you're using.

Set yourself up for success

Now that you’ve been invited to your Dropbox account, you’re one step away from accessing its collaborative and organizational powers.

You're invited

When your team joins Dropbox, your Dropbox team account admin can and may send you an invite to join the team.

Dropbox team accounts have one or more admins in their organization who manage the security, integration, and sharing settings for their team. 

All you need to do is accept the invitation via email to join. Then, you reach your first fork in the road: are you joining Dropbox as a new or existing user?

Are you new around here?

As you work through setting up your Dropbox team account, you’ll be asked if you’re setting it up as a new or existing user. Depending on which one applies to you, you’ll follow different steps to complete account set up.

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New user

As a new user, setting up your account is easy. Just create an account with your work email address, set a password, and download the Dropbox desktop app.

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Existing user

As an existing user, you just need to log in and then decide what to do with the existing files in your Dropbox account. You can either keep them in the account you already have, or move them into a new personal Dropbox account that your organization won’t have access to. If you choose to move them, you’ll need to use a different email address for your new personal Dropbox account and create a password for that account.

Heads-up: If you’re using your work email for Dropbox and your team’s admin has certain settings in place, you may get a web or desktop notification asking you to choose if you want to move your files. Your account will pause syncing until you make that choice.

Access your files from anywhere, anytime

Dropbox offers several different ways to conveniently access your files:

While you can always access your files from any device connected to the internet using dropbox.com, installing and using the apps on your devices will help you get the most from Dropbox.

Learn about uploading and downloading files.

You can also securely back up your files and folders. Learn how to use Dropbox Backup.


With the Dropbox mobile app

The Dropbox mobile app helps you keep projects moving from anywhere, so you can stay focused on what matters. Access work, collaborate with colleagues or friends, and quickly take care of tasks—all from your phone or tablet.

The Dropbox mobile app is free and lets you:

  • Access your entire Dropbox account on the go

  • Browse and view files directly from your Dropbox account

  • Use third-party apps to open and edit files

  • Take photos and videos using your built-in camera and save them directly to your Dropbox account

  • Make important files available for offline access—we'll upload any changes once you’re back online

  • Share your files via links in an email, text messaging, or another app

The Dropbox mobile app is available for Android, iPhone, and iPad.


Dropbox with File Explorer or Finder

We like to make things easy. That’s why you can access Dropbox directly from a folder on your hard drive. It runs using File Explorer for Windows or Finder for Mac.

Using Dropbox on your computer is just like using any other folder on your hard drive, except the files you drag into your Dropbox folder automatically sync online and to any other computers or mobile devices linked to your account. It's like having the same folder on all of your computers and mobile devices at the same time.

Dropbox even works when you're offline. The next time you're online, Dropbox will sync changes just where it left off.


Should I link my personal account?

Though it’s not required, connecting your personal and team Dropbox account is a convenient way to access all of your content. You can easily get to your work or personal files from all your linked devices, and you don’t need to worry about logging out and logging in multiple times.

Connecting both accounts keeps your personal content private. Your Dropbox admin won’t have access to it.


How to link a personal Dropbox account after installing the desktop app

Once your Dropbox team account is set up, connecting a personal Dropbox account doesn’t take too much time. All you have to do is click your avatar (profile picture or initials) in the upper-right corner of the screen, then choose Add personal account. From there, just log in with an existing account or sign up for a brand new personal Dropbox account.


How to log in on a new computer as a new user

If you’re installing Dropbox on a new computer and you’re a new user, you need to log in to both accounts to link them together. Choose either to log in to your personal or team account to start, then add the other.


How to link a personal Dropbox to an existing computer

If you’re already using a Dropbox account on your computer, you just need to log in to your second Dropbox from the Dropbox icon on your computer.

  1. Click the Dropbox icon in your taskbar (Windows), or menu bar (Mac).

  2. Click your avatar (profile picture or initials).

  3. Click Add personal account at the bottom of the list.

  4. Follow the prompts to log in with your personal account.


Shout out to SSO

If your admin enables SSO, or single sign-on, you can access Dropbox in the same way you access other applications at work: by entering your SSO password on your team's log in page.

When you need to log in to dropbox.com, type in your email address and click Continue. You’ll arrive at your team's log in page where you can enter your SSO password for work.

On your computer, you only need to log in to Dropbox once. Once you log in with SSO on desktop, you're good to go.

Make your Dropbox account your own

Now that you’ve got your Dropbox team account set up, make it your own by personalizing your settings.

Perfect your profile

Your profile is where you can find your email address, username, and optional profile photo. If you want to change any of that information, log in to dropbox.com, click your avatar (profile picture or initials) in the upper-right corner, and click Settings.

Change your username or profile photo and link a personal account under the General tab. To change your password, click the Security tab.

Update notification settings

Dropbox sends you email notifications to let you know what’s changing in your account, which can be really helpful. But sometimes, you just don’t want so many emails in your inbox, which is understandable.

You can review your email notification settings by logging in to dropbox.com. Click your avatar (profile picture or initials) in the upper-right corner, click Settings, and click the Notifications tab.

From there, uncheck boxes next to the notifications you don’t want to receive anymore.

Link or unlink devices

We all use different devices for work, and managing those devices with your Dropbox team account can be done in one place.

To connect a device, just download the Dropbox app to that device and log in. Everything will start syncing.

When you unlink a device to your account, files and folders won’t be synced. It’s as if you simply turn off Dropbox for that device.

If you want to unlink a device:

  1. Log in to dropbox.com.

  2. Click your avatar (profile picture or initials).

  3. Click Settings.

  4. Click the Security tab.

  5. Your devices are listed under Devices.

  6. Click the trash can icon next to the device you’d like to log out of remotely.

  7. Click Unlink.

Enable two-step verification

Two-step verification is an optional but recommended security feature that your Dropbox admin may have enabled. If your team isn’t using SSO, the admin may enable two-step verification which requires you to enter a six-digit security code along with your password.

Common questions

Got a question about setting up your account? We’ve likely got an answer. If you have a question that’s not listed here, check our help center for more answers.


Can my admin see my personal Dropbox?

If you're a Dropbox team account member, and you have connected your personal and work Dropbox accounts, the "log in as member" admin feature won’t allow team admins to access your personal account. Only your work account is accessible to admins.


Should I just copy files from My Documents into my Dropbox?

There’s no need to copy files from one folder to your Dropbox, which would create duplicate copies.

If you have files saved locally, you can work with them in Dropbox, while also keeping them on your local hard drive, by dragging and dropping them into the Dropbox file hierarchy in File Explorer (Windows) or Finder (Mac) instead of copying them.

Your Dropbox folder works like any other folder, so working on files directly from your Dropbox folder allows you to store that file both on your computer and on the Dropbox website without duplicating it. That saves you hard drive space, and you can never have enough hard drive space, right?