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Forum Discussion
Dropbox interface is unclear when sharing with people without Dropbox
If I send a link to multiple people, do all of theses people need to sign up for Dropbox to see my files? I think the answer is yes because I tried the link myself (as a non-user) and I was prompted ...
Walter
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHi there Jim W.46, thanks for using Dropbox and happy Friday.
The recipients of your shared links won't need a Dropbox account to preview the file(s) or folder(s) your links point to unless you choose to create a shared link with edit access.
As for testing a shared link you created, you can always use an incognito window instead of logging out of your account.
I hope this helps a tad, Jim.
Hey Jim W.46! Product Manager from the sharing team here! Thank you for providing this feedback - we are always looking for ways to make sharing more simple for users and this confusion around whether recipients need a Dropbox account or not is certainly a point of friction.
First, I'd like to expand a bit on Walter's answer regarding when an account is required or not. In general when you share with a link, recipients won't need an account. However, there are a few cases where the receiver will need an account:
- If you adjust the link audience such that only specific people should have access
- If you are sharing an edit link to a team folder (for added security we require recipients of these folders to sign in)
Jim W.46 to your other point in the thread, explaining this all in a forum post helps some folks with clarity, but the better path forward would be to improve the user experience in product! We are currently experimenting with new layouts for the modal to make this more clear, but I'm curious to hear more about your note that "It should be my choice whether or not to put my associates through the process of signing up for Dropbox". In your ideal world, how would you expect to make this choice? Would it be on a per recipient basis, or a global option that applies to all links?
Thanks again for your feedback!
Dear project manager, I just saw your excellent comments. First let me say how impressed I am that the Dropbox has taken this seriously and actually replied to my post. This issue has created "friction" as you say when I have tried to send links to my associates. The problems are:
1. The difference between "view" and "edit" might not be clear to the person creating the link.
2. The person creating the link may not even be aware there is a drop down menu.
3. I'm pretty sure the default is "edit", which is the option that creates more troubles for the recipients.
I believe my suggestion to provide two different buttons solves these problems. (We haven't even talked about the ability to download the file, but that's another topic.) Regarding your comments about adjusting the link audience and sharing an edit link to a team folder, I cannot comment. I'm usually in a hurry and I just want to send the link out to a group of people and I want them to be able to view and download the file without logging in. Time is usually of the essence and all these other options you describe are beyond my current needs.
So this may address your question about "per recipient basis, or a global option that applies to all links". I'm sorry I don't have the experience to comment at this time. HOWEVER, I am guessing that your sharing window could default to the one that I describe and you could have a button for "Advanced options". I hope this helps and thank you once again for listening to your customers.
