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The verification code takes a long time to arrive (even hours).

Hi. I'm putting my family history in Dropbox and I wanted to give all my relatives access to it. There are lot of folders with photos, life histories, old records, etc. So I thought it'd be easier to give everybody my log-in info.

When anybody logs in, I get sent the verification code and I text it to the person. So far it's worked fine, but one of my cousins logged in today and it took nearly three hours for the verification code to come to me. He just tried again a half hour ago and I'm still waiting for the code.

Can anyone shed some light on why this is happening? Please advise. Thanks.

Clare [removed per Community Guidelines]

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Rich

Tamora672 wrote:
So I thought it'd be easier to give everybody my log-in info.

DO NOT DO THIS! Not only would it allow anyone with that information to take over the account, it's also a violation of the Dropbox terms and could result in the deletion of your account AND your files. Do not risk it!

Tamora672 wrote:
When anybody logs in, I get sent the verification code and I text it to the person.

Please don't do this! Security codes from services such as Dropbox and others are there to PREVENT others from signing into your personal account, and you're trying to bypass that security.

If you want to give them view-only access to the files, just send them a shared link to the files or folders. If they need edit access, have them sign up for their own account and then share the folder with them.

https://help.dropbox.com/share/create-and-share-link

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Rich

Tamora672 wrote:
So I thought it'd be easier to give everybody my log-in info.

Tamora672 wrote:
When anybody logs in, I get sent the verification code and I text it to the person.

Please don't do this! Security codes from services such as Dropbox and others are there to PREVENT others from signing into your personal account, and you're trying to bypass that security.

https://help.dropbox.com/share/create-and-share-link

Tamora672

I'm sorry to be so late replying but I only just saw this. I'm also sorry because I didn't mean to break any rules. You see, I need an online storage space that my relatives can access after I die, because I have all our family history documents and stories. If I give everybody view-only access to the files, does this mean they won't be able to download anything? Please advise. Thanks. -- Clare

Dell_Dropbox

welcome back @Tamora672

In Dropbox, view-only access does not prevent downloading by default. People with view-only access can:

Open and view the files
Download copies to their own devices
Comment (if you allow it)
They cannot edit or delete files

So if you share a folder or file with someone using "Can view" permissions, they can download it.

You can check the status of this by navigating to a file in the Dropbox app, clicking the 3 dot button to open the menu, then selecting "manage access". From there, you can see a button that says "allow downloads"..... it should be enabled by default

Tamora672

Thank you; great info. But won't my family still need to log in, in order to do this?

Walter

If you choose to go with the shared links option, your family would just need the shared link to the files or folders you'd like to share @Tamora672 - no need to log into your Dropbox account or even have an account to access the shared links.

I hope this clarifies and please let us know if you have any follow up questions.

Roga41

Hi Tamora672,

You don't have to provide or share your login information to be able to let your relatives access your account in case something bad happens to you. So long as you are subscribed to any paid plan, without you sharing your login information, just in case you wonder on how possibly can your relatives be able to get hold of your account if something bad happens to you, you can check this article to help you know what Dropbox requires to allow your loved ones to have the chance to get hold of your account provided that they met the following requirements :

How To Access Dropbox Account of someone who passed away:

https://help.dropbox.com/account-settings/access-account-of-someone-who-passed-away

Likewise, you may also be interested about our Family Plan that allows you to share your space with as many as 6 family members including yourself . In this way, you get to give your other members their own log in access already so they will be able to have access to a default shared folder called "Family Room" wherein whatever files you will be uploading to that folder that you wish your members to have immediate access, your family members will no longer have to request for your approval to grant access as they will automatically have immediate access to the files added. To find out more about our Family plans, you can refer on this links:

The Dropbox Family Plan- An Overview : https://help.dropbox.com/plans/dropbox-family-plan

Hope this helps,

Thank you .