Child Item

Can't seem to properly share a folder of photos

I am new to Dropbox and am having problems with folder sharing.

I have read the Dropbox help on sharing and I have looked at several questions in the forum. They all seem to say the same thing which I tried repeatedly. (The definition of insanity - trying the same thing over and over expecting a different result).

I have created a folder and uploaded photos to it. I have shared the folder with an invitation set as "can view". The person I shared with can see the folders but can also edit them (e.g. Delete and rename are available). Why do they have the ability to edit when I specified "can view"?

Also, when I hover over the icon to the right of the "Share" dropdown it says the user "..hasn't added to their dropbox yet" and the icon is grayed out. Why do they need to create a dropbox if all I want to do is share the folder? And why would they need to add anything to a dropbox? I want this to be as simple to use as possible.

Thinking that maybe sharing with an invitation is overkill I wondered if I could share just by sending them a link. However when they attempt to link to the folder they are told they do not have access.

What am I doing wrong? I feel like I'm beating my head against a wall.

Find more posts tagged with

Shared Folders

Shared Links

Developer

Active

Promoted

Accepted answers

wa4ywm

@Megan and @Hannah

Thank you for your direct comments and answers. I realize that I was trying to do something that cannot be done with my account - restrict access with a link.

Thus, I am going to have my users create accounts so that I can restrict access.

Thanks again.

All comments

Здравко

@wa4ywm wrote:
...
Also, when I hover over the icon to the right of the "Share" dropdown it says the user "..hasn't added to their dropbox yet" and the icon is grayed out. Why do they need to create a dropbox if all I want to do is share the folder? And why would they need to add anything to a dropbox? I want this to be as simple to use as possible.

Thinking that maybe sharing with an invitation is overkill I wondered if I could share just by sending them a link. ...

Hi @wa4ywm,

😀 I suspect you count 2 different things as a single thing. There are different ways to share something. One of them, of course, is to share a link to whatever you want to share (file or folder). Another one (and something definitely different) is to share the file or folder between accounts, that will let syncing between accounts without any user interaction. When you share using link, the person can have or not an account (it's optional), but when you share the file or the folder themself then receiver must have account (the share comes up between accounts). According your description, you may have shared using both ways together. 🙂😉 Decide what you want and remove the other thing.

Good luck.

wa4ywm

I had posted a similar item earlier. I had one response which didn't answer my questions.

The subject line says it all. I am sharing a folder of photos with Can View selected. However, the recipient can edit the folder. Why????

The recipient receives an email with an Add Dropbox selection. Why would they need to add a Dropbox if I all I want to do is have them share a folder? This complicates the situation.

Am I completely misunderstanding something? I seem to be doing everything detailed in the instructions.

HELP!!

Jay

Hi @wa4ywm , thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Just for clarification are you sharing a link to a folder, or are you sharing a folder directly to their account?

This will help me to assist further!

wa4ywm

I have tried 2 different things.

One: I click on the Share dropdown. The box that is displayed says "Share this Folder, Only people invited Can view". I enter their email and click on "Share folder". They receive an email with an "Add Dropbox" selection. When they click on this they are taken to the folder and can edit.

Two: I have sent a link in an ordinary email. This link takes them to the folder which they can edit.

Note: My settings under "Link for Viewing", "Who has access" is "Only people invited".

Walter

Hey @wa4ywm, sorry to jump in, but can you confirm that you're using these steps to share the link to the folder you mentioned?

If you have already added them to the folder as a member, you can remove their access as outlined here.

wa4ywm

I am going to ask a question in what I hope is a direct manner so that I can get a direct answer.

I wish to be able to send a link to a folder to be used only by people I invite. How can I provide them access without going through the Share Folder process?

So far the only way this seems to work is if the person creates an account when presented with the Add Dropbox icon in the email sent to them when I click Share Folder in the Share this Folder dialog. I would like to avoid having them create a account - this just complicates everything.

This has turned into a VERY frustrating experience.

Hannah

Hey @wa4ywm, what you need to do is share a link to the folder.

You need to keep in mind though, that the link will need to be a "can view" one specifically.

So far, I understand that you're sending a "can edit" one instead, so you'll need to follow these steps.

That way, your recipients won't need to add the folder to their account. They won't even need an account to access the folder.

I hope this helps!

wa4ywm

Hannah,

I have been following the steps you refer to. I send the link to a person. The person is listed under "Who can access" in the "Share this folder" dialog.

When the person clicks on the link in their email, Dropbox displays a screen saying "You don't have access". ???

Nancy

Hi from me as well, @wa4ywm!

Can you send us a full screenshot of what they see on their end?

From what you describe, it’s possible that they’re trying to access a shared folder instead of a shared link (which are two different things).

wa4ywm

Dropbox Access.jpg

@Nancy Here is the screen shot you requested.

Megan

Hey @wa4ywm, let's try the process from scratch, shall we?

The first thing I would like for you to do is follow the steps here, in order to remove said member from the folder or unshare the folder entirely.

Alternatively, you can create a new test folder, and check the behavior there. Now, once we have our unshared folder, or our newly created older, please hover over it and click the share icon (rectangle with an up arrow).

From the dropdown, select can view. If a link hasn't been created, click Create. If a link has been created, then click Copy link.

Once that's done, try accessing it through an incognito tab on your browser, just to see how it'll look like for the other person. If you get any errors such as the one you sent above, let me know.

wa4ywm

Hi @Megan

I removed everyone but me (of course) from the access list. I created a new link. Checked the link in a new tab - good. Sent the link in an email to the person of interest. The link worked. BUT - I have been here before. I suspect that I am missing something here.

I am under the impression that when I send a link as I have done here, it means that anyone can use that link to access the folder. I have no way of restricting access. True?

If true, how do I restrict access?

Hannah

Happy to see that you were able to resolve this, @wa4ywm.

Indeed, when it comes to shared links, anyone with access to the link, can access the content.

There are ways to change the permissions on links, like adding a password or an expiration date, but that would require a Dropbox Professional or Business account.

In your case, what you could do, is keep the link alive for as long as you need to, and then you can delete it from this page, to stop people from accessing the content.

wa4ywm

@Hannah

So the only way I can control access to the folder is to invite the users to share the folder and they would then need to create an account. Is this true?

Megan

Hey @wa4ywm, if you're on a paid Professional, or paid plan you can choose for people not to download content, or add a password to your links as Hannah suggested.

If you invite a user to your shared folder directly, instead of a shared link they would need a Dropbox account, and they can either have "can edit" or "can view" permissions.

wa4ywm

@Megan and @Hannah

Thank you for your direct comments and answers. I realize that I was trying to do something that cannot be done with my account - restrict access with a link.

Thus, I am going to have my users create accounts so that I can restrict access.

Thanks again.

joceedee

I know this isn't my post but as a paid member (drop box one) I'm struggling with a similar issue.

I'd like to be able to share a view link to a folder and I am having the same error issue as @wa4ywm.

I'm assuming someone can't be added to the view permission list unless the folder has been shared with them which requires a dropbox account (if I understand correctly). I can't work out how to add an email to the permissions without also having to hit the share folder button.

I want to be able to share a link to view to invited people only (which I have access to) without those people needing a dropbox account.

Is this even possible? Or is the only way drop box can manage viewing restrictions is through dropbox to dropbox accounts?

Thanks.

Hannah

Hey @joceedee, thanks for your comment here!

If you'd like to share a folder with 'view only' permissions to people who don't have a Dropbox account, you won't be able to invite them using their email addresses, but you can create a 'view only' link, that will allow them to access the folder.

You can then copy and paste this link wherever they can access it.

I hope this helps!

joceedee

Thanks for getting back to me.

It's clear the kinds of permissions and restrictions I'm looking for are only available drop box to drop box.

Cheers.