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Forcing a shared link to download no longer works; the recipient has to access Dropbox now.

In the past, once I created a folder & uploaded pictures to DropBox, I would click the 'copy link' button.

I would then open my email client, start a new email & paste the DropBox link in the message. I then changed the end of the link from 0 to 1. When the recipient clicked on the link, they would get a message to download the folder of pictures WITHOUT having to go to DropBox & create an account.

It's not working this way anymore. Am I forgetting something or did DropBox change the download procedure?

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Walter

Hi there @CYWG - sorry to hear about this.

Could you confirm that you're following these steps to achieve what you described?

Also, when you say it's not working now, are you getting any particular error?

Let us know more and we'll take it from there.

CYWG

When I started using Dropbox, I was told just to change the &dl=0 to &dl=1.
It did allow the recipients to download a folder of pictures WITHOUT having to go to DropBox & create an account; this happened just as I liked. But it did not work this way in July.

So I I did a test about 30 minutes ago.

I logged into my Dropbox account, selected a folder I want to send to family members, clicked the 3 Dots (More) button & in the dropdown, I selected Copy Link.

I then exited out of Dropbox & closed my browser.
In my email client, I created a new email to myself & added the link 3 times, each with a different ending parameter:
1. &dl=0
2. &dl=1
3. &raw=1

While logged out of my Dropbox account & my browser closed, I tested the 3 links:
1. the &dl=0 link opened my browser to show a Sign-Up page
2. the &dl=1 link also opened my browser to show a Sign-Up page
3. the &raw=1 link also opened my browser to show a Sign-Up page

While logged into my Dropbox account, I again tested the 3 links:
1. the &dl=0 link opens to my Dropbox folder so the pictures can be downloaded
2. the &dl=1 link opens a download message without having to go to Dropbox
3. the &raw=1 link also opens a download message without having to go to Dropbox

Here are pictures of the sign-up page (picture~1) & the download message (picture~2)

It's the download message I want recipients to receive WITHOUT having to see a Sign-up page. Do I have to be signed into my Dropbox account for this to happen?

Roga41

Hi CYWG,

You can use Dropbox Transfer to send files you don’t need to collaborate on. When you send a transfer, the recipient receives a shareable link that they can click to download the files. The recipient doesn’t need a Dropbox account to access or download a transfer. To know more about Dropbox Transfer, you can use these links for your reference :

What Is Dropbox Transfer? : https://help.dropbox.com/share/dropbox-transfer

How To Create and Send Dropbox Transfer : https://help.dropbox.com/share/create-dropbox-transfer

Thank you.

DP_107e28e

This is misleading, Dropbox Transfer link still tries to get them to sign in first, and has in SMALL text "or continue to download only", which most recipients will not see. The amount of clients that get stuck in this process essentially means I can't use Dropbox to share files, so eventually I have no choice but to change to another service.