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How can I print an index of files contained within a Dropbox folder for record purposes

I use dropbox regularly for business purposes and regularly need to distribute specific information to multiple contacts via individual dropbox folders.

As a business we are required to keep records of information that has been issued and it does not appear that dropbox allows for an indexed screen print to be made to evidence information issued within a specific folder on a given date and time. The functionality of providing the information is great but dropbox are missing a key function of being able to record and document what has been issued.

I have previously had to resort to screen printing each folder which is not sufficient as the full file path/file name is abbreviated and this does not allow a suitable record of the specific file name to be printed, surely an additional function can be added to the software to allow an index of documents contained within a specific folder?

Does anyone know a way round this as it is wasting alot of time and resources by having to prepare separate folder lists to accompany each dropbox folder that we create.

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Lusil

Hey there, @ClaxtonJ.

At first, since this isn’t currently available through the website, I’d recommend checking this thread out which may be helpful in what you’re trying to achieve.

Furthermore, if you’re on a Dropbox Business team and you are an admin, you have the capability to find info about how your team is using Dropbox, such as active members, storage, links created, active shared folders, and active devices, through the activity log.

Nonetheless, I’d be more than happy to pass your comments along to the dev team for more future consideration.

Cheers!

All comments

Lusil

Hey there, @ClaxtonJ.

At first, since this isn’t currently available through the website, I’d recommend checking this thread out which may be helpful in what you’re trying to achieve.

Nonetheless, I’d be more than happy to pass your comments along to the dev team for more future consideration.

Cheers!

ClaxtonJ

The tread you have provided does not address my issue.

It will be appreciated if you could please pass my comments to your development team as without this function Drop-box will not meet the needs of our company (and other construction and or legal companies who need to evidence documentation that has been issued or shared)

A positive response in this regard will dictate whether we continue with a business account beyond our trial which has now expired.

I shall look forward to hearing from you to confirm whether this function can be added to the Dropbox platform which I suggest shall improve the service fro a number of users.

HispDocumentSto

Try this app - worked wonders for me!

Lusil

Hey again, @ClaxtonJ.

In general, the dev team is working on and reviewing different features constantly in order to improve user experience.

I can’t give a definitive timeline on when something like this will be worked on or, if it’s being worked on, when it’ll be released, but I’ve made sure to share your thoughts on this.

rbragg

Print File Directory: Any update on adding this feature? For me - this is almost a must have for file management. Hopefully coming soon? - Or - if it is already there and I didn't see it thank you!

Rich

@rbragg wrote:
Any update on adding this feature?

No change. Dropbox has no such functionality, and we likely won't know if they plan to add it until they actually do. Dropbox doesn't discuss what features they may or may not be adding.

ClaxtonJ

Dissapointingly there has been no progress with this request.

The apps suggested to me do not provide the level of detail that is required for the business that we operate since file names (that are dictated to us by others and cannot be changed) are often are too long to display fully within the abbreviated screen print that dropbox allows which renders the screen print function worthless to us.

We are actively exploring other project based file sharing options although most (e.g. Egnyte) currently appear to use the same or similar platform and functions as Dropbox and are also missing a trick!

I do hope that Drop-box will listen to this request and add this important function however I suspect that more users will need to push/support this request in order to make it happen.

KAH1

Have you heard anything since March? This is a desperately missed tool from Dropbox

ClaxtonJ

There is still no sign of this fundamental requirement being added to Dropbox which is extremely disappointing.

Whilst the accessibility and security aspects of Dropbox are very good I wonder how long it will take for Dropbox to recognise the importance of being able to properly reference the information that is being shared and secured. I suspect this is the reason why more Construction and Legal firms do not use Dropbox for business.

This request was made in January and it is now nearing the end of August with no sign of the software being updated, can you please advise whether Dropbox will start listening to their customers, that is surely the point of a forum is it not?

Sam45

Any update here??

Rich

No change. Dropbox has no such functionality, and we likely won't know if they plan to add it until they actually do. Dropbox doesn't discuss what features they may or may not be adding.

You can use the Share an Idea section of the forums to make a feature request.

jane73

need to print index of folder - any progress? thanks

Rich

Dropbox has no such feature. If you're syncing all of your folders to your computer, you can easily do this using the tools in your operating system.

Tiffany K.3

I am also hace a business account and I need an indexed list of thousands of file names within a root folder... please add this feature.

Rob K.17

Have you tried printing the Dropbox index from Windows Explorer view of the Dropbox folder rather than directly from Dropbox website? If not, consider this:

Open Windows Explorer and select the source Dropbox folder in the left pane.
Press Ctrl + A to select all items in the right pane.
Press and hold the Shift key, then right click on the selection.
From the context menu, choose "Copy as Path".
Paste the list into Excel.

If you have multiple files in multiple folders you can extract all the files by searching the parent folder in Windows Explorer using the search term *.* and then use the above technique. Neither is ideal which is why I built my own tool to index files and this then parses out the filename, creates a hyperlink to the file and tabluates some of the associated file metadata too. My tool also allows excludes some of the eronious file types (such as temporary files and thumb indexes).

melinda33458

In case no one has figured this out here’s how you do it. It's not necessarily pretty but it gives the data you need.

First you have to have Drop Box as an accessible folder in File Explorer. If you’re only accessing from the browser this method will not work. Once you have Drop Box in your File Explorer list, then you can print the directory and its contents from the CMD prompt.

In the “Type here to search” box on your Windows 10 (the Task bar area) type in cmd. Select Command Prompt.

Type in the following command where [username] is your username. (Don’t know your username? Go to file explorer, This PC, Windows, Users, and locate your folder. There should be one for you and all users on your system + a Public folder.)

tree “c:\directory_name” > “c:\file_name.txt” /A /F

Directory name is the full path name to your drop box directory.

Example:

C:\>tree "C:\Users\myname\ Dropbox\MyDropbox" > "C:\Users\ myname\Desktop\details.txt" /A /F

This will place the directory listing on your desktop. You can copy and paste the contents to Excel if that's what you need.

Hope this helps!

melinda33458

This is my first post in this forum and I didn't realize it would translate my "colon backslash" into a frowny face automatically. Wherever you see the frowny face replace that with the colon symbol and the backslash symbol, no spaces. Sorry about that.

doeeyed

I created a login just to say thanks for this. I've been trying to print folder contents in Windows for a long time :-)!