Child Item

Can't share Google-Docs-files with "edit permission" to external people

So I started a company and bought Professioal Dropbox and G-Suite, to be able to have Google-Docs in my Dropbox, since we work from here with all our files.

If I now create a "Google-Document" in Dropbox for a brainstorming session with a client, I CAN'T GET THIS FILE SHARED, so that the client can write with me in my doc.

Is this supposed to be like this? I pay 2 Services and loose features, that the free ones easily provide?
I suppose I just forgot a little box to be clicked or so.

So please help me with this issue, if anyone knows the answer!

THANK YOU!

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Accepted answers

Luc-FJ

Hi Walter, Thanks for responding.

For future generations dealing with the same problem, I think we understand the miscommunication and found the solution. 🙂

As Jay mentioned, when you share a Google doc, the other user will need a Google or Dropbox account of their own to edit the file, as it doesn't allow for anonymous editing of files.

Check, as you can see in our screenshots, all of us are using Google or Dropbox accounts to login and open the Dropbox Google Doc link.

To make sure you can edit the file, you or your collaborators will have to make sure that you're using the same email address for both your Google and your Dropbox account(s).

Here is the interesting part: So this would mean, as far as I understand, that IT IS NOT possible to share this gdoc ONLY as a link, but you have to add in the email bar:
When they, for example, your client, are added, Dropbox does a few weird things:
- It doesn't give you feedback inside this Dropbox Share menu that they have been added.
- They don't receive an e-mail
  - also nothing inside of Google Drive, 'Shared with me' (which is not that strange).
- You have to copy the link yourself from the share menu.
- The first time they open the link it gives you an error that they Need Acces.
  - This error part happens A LOT, even inside of Dropbox itself, needs a fix
- BUT, when you reload the page, or do a sign in again, everything works 'magically'. 🎉

So, in the end, it works, quirky, with a lot of signing in. 🙂 Hope you can make the sharing a lot more smooth in the future!

All comments

Jay

Hi @schaum55, thanks for posting on the Community!

Just to clarify, are you certain that you're creating a Google document directly on the Dropbox site?

When sharing the file, what options do you see, and what have you enabled?

Any other info or screenshots would be helpful!

schaum55

I am creating a google doc in dropbox. Yes.

Bildschirmfoto 2021-01-07 um 20.45.29.png

Bildschirmfoto 2021-01-07 um 20.33.59.png

Afterwards I push "freigabe" which means SHARE or kind of give other people permission

Bildschirmfoto 2021-01-07 um 20.33.35.png

Then I send to my test mail, receive an email there and open in InCognito-Mode to be sure to seem like someone who does not have an account of dropbox or google docs. Just to see if it would work for anybody like it does, when you send a link of a google docs or at least when giving permission.

But I simply get this:

A login-window to DROP BOX.. for seeing a simple google docs..

Bildschirmfoto 2021-01-07 um 20.52.36.png

.. after typing my private account in there (I have one, but I don't expect my clients to have one) ..
I am "logged in" ...

BUT:

only to dropbox..

not this comes:

Bildschirmfoto 2021-01-07 um 20.39.22.png

and after I type my account details here (I have one, but I don't expect my clients to have one) ..

i get a second confirmation on phone google app (I have it, but I don't expect my clients to have it)

until I get this again:

Bildschirmfoto 2021-01-07 um 20.39.22.png

When I click "zurück zu Dropbox" which means "back to dropbox" click, I finally see the document (it is empty, but that's ok) but I am in COMMENT-MODE .. no chance to edit anything or so..

Bildschirmfoto 2021-01-07 um 20.59.08.png

Thats it. No chance to edit.

I am not sure, but maybe I read even, that in dropbox-google-docs, only the team with the same Email-Domain can edit a document.. but this would make dropbox-google-docs-feature so so useless!

I really hope I am wrong, since I get more with the free dropbox version than now, using to paid services..

thank you for your help, i hope I was clear!

Matthias

Jay

When you share a Google doc, the other user will need a Google or Dropbox account of their own to edit the file, as it doesn't allow for anonymous editing of files.

If you need any more details, feel free to message back!

schaum55

is it "or" or "AND" .. it seems the user needs both and still can't edit! ..

this is what I mean.

can you give me a test-e-Mail-Adresse of yours, and so see if you can edit the file.

Actuall I think "AND" is not even enough, but when you have google-account AND dropbox-account, you will also need an email with the domain of mine...

schaum55

if this doesn't work, it totally misses the point of sharing files for me : ( ..
I am still in 15 days testing mode, so would be nice to finde a solution, otherwise dropbox won't work for me anymore..

Jay

Just to clarify, even with a Google account and a Dropbox account, they can't edit the Google doc you created?

If this is the case, and you're on a trial, you could contact the support team directly for further assistance on this matter.

schaum55

Oh, actually I found out, that sharing is only possible with a domain-ending as mine..

I am off, love dropbox though, but the google-integration did not do its thing for me yet...

thank you so much for your help and time!
And I think that nothing is your fault, but privacy rules about who can see what document etc. that are nessesary from law or so..

still, for now, I will say goodbye to dropbox that I used the last 5 years and say hi to google. they won, for now!

Allvitende

I'm having this same issue. This doesn't make a lot of sense. It also does not line up with what was pitched by Dropbox itself on the page selling the feature (in red below): https://blog.dropbox.com/topics/product-tips/google-docs-sheets-slides

Manage access. Whether you’re sharing directly from Dropbox or by creating a link, you can grant recipients edit or view-only access. You can also set permissions to team-only—to keep work inside your company—or anyone, for sharing outside your Dropbox Business team. And since sharing is managed by Dropbox, there’s nothing additional for team admins to manage.

Is this an oversight or am I not understanding something. I have reached out to support and they also don't know how to fix the issue.

Jay

Hi @Allvitende, are you sharing the file from within a team folder, shared folder, or a private folder on your account?

Have you made any restrictions to file sharing from the admin console?

Allvitende

Thanks for the response, @Jay. I believe it is a team folder "Everyone at <company> can edit" (not sure on the difference between a team and a shared folder in this context). However, I updated the file-specific permissions, to add my example client (myself on a personal email address). In the "Members" column on the individual file, it says "Everyone at <company>" + "My personal email". Here is a screenshot of my admin console file-sharing settings.

Screen Shot 2021-03-26 at 10.20.39 AM.png

Daphne

Thanks for the additional info @Allvitende.

Can you just clarify for me exactly what is preventing editing for the files?

For example, is there an error message? Is there no visible option to edit the files?

If you can, please send along any relevant screenshots of this too, as the visual is always helpful. Cheers!

Allvitende

Hi, I'm running into the same issue as the original thread author (please review the thread for context as he documented it quite clearly). Have you tried replicating the issue on your end? I've had to explain this multiple times to support already and it's getting redundant to be honest.

1. Create a new Google Doc in a shared team folder.

Screen Shot 2021-03-25 at 8.05.33 PM.png

2. Update file permissions to "anyone with link can edit". I've also tried "anyone with the link can view" and the same thing happens.

Screen Shot 2021-03-31 at 11.16.44 AM.png

3. I open the link in an incognito browser and see this screen.

Screen Shot 2021-03-31 at 11.15.32 AM.png

4. I attempt to login with my personal Google Account (to simulate a client experience that is not part of my organization) and receive this message.

Screen Shot 2021-03-25 at 7.46.23 PM.png

5. Can't access the file at all whatsoever.

Basically, it appears that Dropbox is only letting us share links to Google Docs, Sheets, Slides with people that have the same domain as our organization (even if the file permissions are set to "anyone with link can view"). This makes it impossible to share with external clients/stakeholders.

I've been testing Box and they do not have this issue. If this is not able to be resolved, unfortunately, we're going to have to switch providers. This seems like a bug that should have been fixed a long time ago when you rolled out this feature. We would prefer to stay with Dropbox but if this is how the integration is going to work, it's not helpful to us.

Daphne

Thanks for all the additional details @Allvitende!

It would be best to look into this alongside some account specific info too, and I see that you mentioned you've already reached out to Support previously.

Can you let me know the ticket number (eg. #1234567) for your case with the team, so I can check this from my side?

Luc-FJ

Hi! having the same issue, hitting a wall for external links from Dropbox / Google Docs. Glad you made the option available to use Docs powerful features inside DB but would help a lot if you could fix this like Box, because if you advertise this sharing feature it should work as easily as GDrive. Step 2 and beyond were all done inside a separate (private) browser tab with no Dropbox login.

1. Share Gdoc inside Dropbox (nice)

Schermafbeelding 2022-01-18 om 12.11.17.png

2. Sign in using a Google account.

Schermafbeelding 2022-01-18 om 12.06.32.png

3. Login

Schermafbeelding 2022-01-18 om 12.07.17.png

4. Hitting a wall (Dutch: cannot open file at the moment, check the adres and try again.)

Schermafbeelding 2022-01-18 om 12.07.37.png
Hope you could figure this one out, it's also a hurdle for me and my team and making the switch difficult. Thanks!

Walter

Hey @Luc-FJ - thanks for joining the discussion.

As Jay mentioned, when you share a Google doc, the other user will need a Google or Dropbox account of their own to edit the file, as it doesn't allow for anonymous editing of files.

To make sure you can edit the file, you or your collaborators will have to make sure that you're using the same email address for both your Google and your Dropbox account(s).

For more information, you can have a look here.

I hope this helps!

Luc-FJ

Hi Walter, Thanks for responding.

For future generations dealing with the same problem, I think we understand the miscommunication and found the solution. 🙂

As Jay mentioned, when you share a Google doc, the other user will need a Google or Dropbox account of their own to edit the file, as it doesn't allow for anonymous editing of files.

Check, as you can see in our screenshots, all of us are using Google or Dropbox accounts to login and open the Dropbox Google Doc link.

To make sure you can edit the file, you or your collaborators will have to make sure that you're using the same email address for both your Google and your Dropbox account(s).

Here is the interesting part: So this would mean, as far as I understand, that IT IS NOT possible to share this gdoc ONLY as a link, but you have to add in the email bar:
When they, for example, your client, are added, Dropbox does a few weird things:
- It doesn't give you feedback inside this Dropbox Share menu that they have been added.
- They don't receive an e-mail
  - also nothing inside of Google Drive, 'Shared with me' (which is not that strange).
- You have to copy the link yourself from the share menu.
- The first time they open the link it gives you an error that they Need Acces.
  - This error part happens A LOT, even inside of Dropbox itself, needs a fix
- BUT, when you reload the page, or do a sign in again, everything works 'magically'. 🎉

So, in the end, it works, quirky, with a lot of signing in. 🙂 Hope you can make the sharing a lot more smooth in the future!

tunahan

You have to allow the cookies on your browser setting for third party apps. Incognito mode is the problem.