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Forum Discussion
Can I access someone else's Dropbox without adding their whole Dropbox to my own account?
Hello Community.
I have been asked to use/add files to another organisation's Dropbox and they have sent me a link inviting me to edit their folder. However, the link from Dropbox suggests that...
lane_RHL wrote:
Surely I can just be provided ACCESS to their Dropbox without having to bring over their whole Dropbox to my own Dropbox though?
No, you can't.
To be clear, you're not getting access to their entire account. You're likely being invited to join a specific shared folder (an entire account can't be shared). When you join a shared folder you get your own COPY of that folder in your account, so you need to have enough available space in your account to hold the entire folder plus anything you upload to it. You're not uploading directly to their account. You're adding files to a folder in your own account which then syncs with their copy of the same folder.
There's no way to get edit access to a folder without it being added to your own account.
Walter
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHey lane_RHL, thanks for using Dropbox and welcome to the Community!
Instead of sharing a folder with edit rights, have you considered asking them to open up a file request for you from their end?
Let me know if this helps!
Hi Walter and thank you for the suggestion. I'm not sure that this would work as the company wants me to create a new folder each time I provide them with the document that I create (I'm creating documents in Word and PDF and then uploading those documents to a file I create in THEIR Dropbox). Surely I can just be provided ACCESS to their Dropbox without having to bring over their whole Dropbox to my own Dropbox though? Having to have their whole Dropbox IN my own Dropbox folder makes no sense at all and practically forces me to purchase the very highest level of Dropbox available in terms of space and storage JUST to be able to access the other company's Dropbox, which is totally out of my financial reach. I'm really confused.
- Rich
Super User II
lane_RHL wrote:
Surely I can just be provided ACCESS to their Dropbox without having to bring over their whole Dropbox to my own Dropbox though?
No, you can't.
To be clear, you're not getting access to their entire account. You're likely being invited to join a specific shared folder (an entire account can't be shared). When you join a shared folder you get your own COPY of that folder in your account, so you need to have enough available space in your account to hold the entire folder plus anything you upload to it. You're not uploading directly to their account. You're adding files to a folder in your own account which then syncs with their copy of the same folder.
There's no way to get edit access to a folder without it being added to your own account.
Rich, that's a really helpful explanation, thank you.
So as an individual who is being provided access to a very very large folder on a company's account, I do not want to have to purchase a very large Dropbox subscription to just access that company folder in order to create a new subfolder and put things into it (that is out of my financial reach). Should I be asking the client if they would be willing to allow me a login to THEIR Dropbox instead? Might that be an option?
- Jay
Hi lane_RHL, you can ask them to create a file request so that you can upload files to their Dropbox account directly.
A shared link to the folder will also allow you to view the files in that folder.
