Dropbox is a file-sharing service
What is Dropbox?
Dropbox is a file-sharing service.
It creates a folder in the cloud (at Dropbox). That folder can be shared between devices and with other people.
The basic Dropbox service that we will use is free and gives 2GB of storage.
If you want to learn more about Dropbox, a brief tour is here.
For your information, security of the files is not very high so I would not put any sensitive information in Dropbox.
Installing Dropbox
1. I’ve created a folder and have invited you to it. I’ve sent you that invitation through Dropbox so go to your email and look for the message from Dropbox.
Dropbox invitation
2. In that invitation email, there will be a button “View folder”. Click that button.
3. If you already have a Dropbox account, you will probably be familiar with what happens next. Just follow the prompts.
4. If you don’t already have a Dropbox account, you will now come to a form.
Dropbox signup form
It will have your email address (the one you gave me) already filled in and there will be three blank fields:
- first name
- last name
- password
Use your first name, use your last name, make up a password for yourself (record it as you do for other passwords).
Then, tick the box to agree to the Dropbox terms (does anyone actually read them?)
Then, click ‘Create account’
You’ll now see a window with ‘Hi [your first name], welcome to Dropbox!’
5. You can go to the files by clicking the link that starts with ‘Access the shared folder … Dropbox website’.
However, that will give you access to only my folder and will not allow you to share files with other people or between your devices. So, skip this step and go on to the next one – that will install Dropbox on your device.
6. The better way to set up Dropbox is to click the ‘Download Dropbox’ button and install the program on your machine.
Then, not only will you be able to access my files but you’ll have full access to all of the features of Dropbox, including the ability to share files with others.
Full disclosure! If you download and install Dropbox, Dropbox will give me more a little more space – so that I can share more files with you and others. This is the model on which Dropbox operates.