Team folders: an overview

Updated Jan 26, 2024
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Most, but not all Dropbox team accounts teams have access to the team space experience. If your team doesn’t have access, then this article is for you. Learn how to identify if you’re on the team space experience.
 

Note: You may have received an email notification asking if you’d like to upgrade your account to the team space experience. Learn more about the upgrade.

A team folder is a powerful tool for sharing with your team. Team folders are available to some Dropbox team accounts. With team folders you can:

  • Automatically sync content in team folders to all group members
  • Choose to share individual files or folders inside a team folder

Not using Dropbox yet? See how Dropbox makes managing file permissions easy.

Watch this video to learn how to manage shared folders in your team space.

How to create a team folder

Admins can create team folders in the admin console. If you're a team member and you'd like a new team folder, contact your admin for help.

Team folders and groups

Team folders are shared with groups and are the hub of content for a team. The group is assigned a role (either as editors or view-only) to the team folder.

If you need access to a team folder you're not a member of, contact your admin to be added to the relevant group.

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Note: Dropbox team account admins own and manage team folders.

Learn more about managing team folders.

Share content inside team folders

As long as you have edit access to the folder you’d like to share and your admin allows external sharing, you can share content in your team folder with collaborators outside of your group.
 

To share a folder inside a team folder:

  1. Log in to dropbox.com with your work account.
  2. Open your team folder.
  3. Hover over the name of the folder you'd like to share and click the share icon (rectangle with an up arrow).
  4. Type the email or name of the person you'd like to invite into the text box.
    • Names in blue are members of your team.
    • Names in yellow are not members of your team.
  5. Click Share folder.

The people you invite must accept the invitation before they can access the content inside the folder.

You can also share a folder by selecting edit or view permissions, clicking Copy Link, then pasting and sharing where desired.

Members of your team that receive an edit link will be able to add the folder to their Dropbox account and collaborate on content. If an edit link is sent to someone who is not a member of your team, they will need to request and be granted permission before they are able to add the folder to their Dropbox account and collaborate on content.

People who can only access folders inside the team folders, and not team folders themselves:

  • Receive the folder like a shared folder
  • Don't have access to the team folder or any other containing folders
  • Don't have visibility into the folder structure
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Note: Admins may limit your ability to invite people to folders inside team folders.

Restoring folders inside team folders

When you restore a folder that's inside a team folder, the sharing permissions for that folder are also restored. If a folder was shared with Janey Smith before it was deleted, it will be shared with Janey Smith after it's restored.

If you don't want previous members to have access to the folder after you restore it, restore the folder then remove them from the folder.
 

Roles in team folders

Admins assign the group a role when a team folder is shared:

  • Editor: Your group can edit the team folder and all the content inside it.
  • View-only: Your group can view the content in the team folder. Admins can give you edit access to folders inside the team folder.

Can I restrict access to a folder inside a team folder?

Yes, to make a folder inside a team folder only available to certain team members, you can create a folder with restricted access.
 

Can I share a link to a team folder?

No, you can't share a link to an entire team folder. If settings for the folder allow it, you can share links to content inside a team folder.
 

Why did my team folder automatically sync to my computer?

After a team folder is added to your account, that folder automatically syncs on all devices where you log in to your Dropbox account and access your Dropbox files.
 

How do I know if I’m using a team folder?

Team folders have different icons than shared folders:

Three team folder icons for mobile, Windows, and Mac depicting a folder with a building on it

How do I get access to team folders?

Team folders are available to Dropbox team accounts. If you'd like to use team folders, you can upgrade to a Dropbox team account. Dropbox team accounts have a minimum of three users.
 

Can I move an existing shared folder into a team folder?

If you're the owner of a shared folder, you can move that shared folder into a team folder by:

  • Dragging the shared folder into the team folder from your desktop
  • Moving the folder on www.dropbox.com
     

Can I rename or delete a team folder?

No, team folders can't be renamed or deleted.

If you’re only a member of a folder inside the team folder, you can rename or delete the shared folder. These changes only apply to your account and don’t affect other members of the folder.
 

How do I remove a team folder from my computer?

You can use selective sync to prevent folders from syncing to your computer.

Learn more about selective sync.
 

Can I move a team folder?

No, team folders are in the same location for every member: in your main Dropbox folder.
 

Can I rename folders inside team folders?

Yes, you can rename folders inside team folders.

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Note: If a folder inside a team folder is renamed, all members of the parent folder see the new name. However, people who are only members of the folder inside the team folder continue to see the original name.

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