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I have a question about the sharing approvals. Can you help?

I have been a Dropbox user for many years and have shared folders many times during that period. It used to be that when I shared a folder the recipient would recieve an email, click on the link and go right to the shared folder. But that changed a short while back. Now, whenever I share a folder, to ANYONE, when they click on the link (even within 30 minutes of the file being shared) I get an email from Dropbox that says, "Joe (joe@xyx.com) would like access to this shared folder. Approve this request to let them see and edit this folder. Approving won't take up any additional space in your Dropbox." (Joe and email address were used to cover up actual contact) . Why do I need to give them access to the shared folder when I already gave them access. This happens to 100% of the people I share a folder with. Real pain in the butt as I am not always around to approve the share request when I receive it. Why?

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Jane

Hey @ScubaBob,

Welcome to the Dropbox Community!

Could you have a loook at this resource and let me know if the email you're receiving comes from an official Dropbox domain?

Let me know the sender's email address in your reply & we'll take it from there.

Thanks!

ScubaBob

it comes from no-reply@dropbox.com.

Dropbox 3.jpg

DH2

This same thing happened to me yesterday. I shared 1 file with 18 people and suddenly no one can get it. I have to approve each person. WHY????

ScubaBob

After over a month at dealing with people at Dropbox about this I learned that this is part of their new Two-Step security which is a total pain in the butt. This was the stupidest solution to a possible problem that they could have come up with. I suggested a few alternatives. First, make the person sharing use two-step authentication to log-into the Dropbox site. They could use a third party app such as Authenticator which is what many of the crypto-currency exchanges use. Or better yet, AFTER the person sharing clicks the "share" button on dropbox.com the emails to the recipients are suspended. Dropbox then sends a confiming email to the sender asking: Did you share your folder, ______, with ______, _____, etc." The sharer clicks on the link to authorize the share and then the email invitations are sent to the recipients. That way the recipients are not bothered. This new system sucks. I shared a folder with 10 people and then went to the airport. While I was traveling they all needed to view the folder contents but could not do so until I landed and got the confirming messges so no work got done--great customer centric security system, Dropbox.

DH2

Thank you for that information. Really appreciate it! I LOVE Dropbox. Really do. But I'm guessing this won't change until enough people complain to Dropbox.

ScubaBob

I like Dropbox a lot, too and use it often. This "solution" reminded me of the adage that a camel was a horse put together by a committee. Dropbox's idea was correct but the solution is wrong. Hopefully they will come up with a simpler solution, two of which I proposed. I happen to like the idea of a confirming email being sent to me by Dropbox before sending the invitations. I use Authenticator but it is a bit too technology "heavy" for a mundane issue such as sharing files. If it involves money, finances, personal information, etc. then Authenticator is fine.

Gradvlax

I have invited 43 people to view and download a shared folder - but not edit. Why have I received this auto generated email from one person via no-reply@dropbox.com:

".......(name).......would like access to this shared folder. Approve this request to let them see and edit this folder. Approving won't take up any additional space in your Dropbox"

No one else has had to request access - they can access the folder. Has this person accidently requested additional privileges? When I followed the link to "grant access", I can see at the top under the folder heading that their name is already in the list. Do I need to invite them again for them to access the folder? Seems dumb when they are already invited. What's going on?

Megan

Hi @Gradvlax, happy Monday!

Is there any chance that the user you invited has two Dropbox accounts, under a similar email address?

I would appreciate some screenshots (omitting any personal info if you can) so I can have a visual of this.

Can you double check, and keep me posted?

Cheers!

Gradvlax

Hi Lori, I have sent them a new invite through a gmail.com extension rather than using googlemail.com - their suggestion. WIll see. In the mean time I have another person who has been refused access. Person 2 doesn't have a Dropbox account (apparently) so I emailed them a direct download link to the same folder that I have 'shared' with everyone else - this seemed the only way to enable them to get the contents of the folder without them having to sign up to a Dropbox account. But they received the message:

"You don't have access

You can ask the person who shared the link to invite you directly. Just so you know, you're signed in as ........(email address)"

Does this mean they have a Dropbox account? The email address on the error message was different from the one I emailed the invite to.

many thanks.

Megan

Hey, @Gradvlax, thank you for the details!

Can I ask the precise steps you used in order to invite them to the folder, please?

Keep in mind, if you wish to invite someone to be part of a folder, you can follow these steps, but they'd need a Dropbox account.

If you wish, you can share a link using these steps.

Can you confirm which one you did?