Dropbox Explained

Dropbox in 5 Verbs ..............................................................................................1

Dropbox in 3 Nouns..............................................................................................1
Getting More Help.................................................................................................1
Understanding sharing possibilities and limitations..............................................2
Managing Dropbox on your computer..................................................................2
Using the Dropbox website to manage your files.................................................3
Saving files to Dropbox.........................................................................................4
Getting files from Dropbox....................................................................................4
Sharing a folder.....................................................................................................5
Managing Sharing Options on a folder.................................................................6
Joining a shared folder..........................................................................................6
Getting previous versions of files..........................................................................7
Understanding Dropbox Icons..............................................................................7
Making sure files are backed up...........................................................................7
Restoring Deleted Files.........................................................................................8
WARNING! Read about reinstalling or changing a computer with Dropbox........9

Dropbox in 5 Verbs
1. Creates a folder in your My Documents called ‘My Dropbox’ on your
computer hard drive
2. Backs up everything in your ‘My Dropbox’ folder to the Dropbox.com
server securely using a little application running in the background
3. Synchronises everything that is backed up to any other computers on
which you installed the Dropbox software
4. Shares folders you marked for sharing with anybody else who signs up
for a free Dropbox account
5. Recovers previous versions of files (up 1 months) and alerts

Dropbox in 3 Nouns
Dropbox will give you
1. Back ups: All your data is securely in two places: 1. your computer(s)
and 2. Dropbox server
2. Synchronisation: You can have exactly the same data on multiple
computers
3. Collaboration: Many people can collaborate on documents without
sending emails back and forth

Getting More Help

The Dropbox website contains detailed guides on how to use it.
https://www.dropbox.com/help

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Understanding sharing possibilities and limitations
1. You can only share folders using Dropbox
2. When you share a folder, all its subfolders will also be shared
3. Subfolders of a shared folder cannot be shared separately with anyone
who also doesn’t have access to the top shared folder
4. People with access to a shared folder can add, edit, rename and delete
files in that folder and its subfolder (they can also invite others)
5. A shared folder will count against the space quota of all the people with
whom it is shared; It is possible to leave a shared folder and still keep all
the files

Managing Dropbox on your computer

Right-click on the Dropbox icon in the notification tray area:

Choose one of these options.

1. Opens the Dropbox folder on your computer

2. Opens a browser window with the Dropbox website where you can
choose further options
3. Gives you a list of the files that were most recently changed (e.g.
uploaded or edited by somebody else)
4. Notifications area
5. Dropbox icon in the tray area

You can also manage Dropbox by right-clicking on files and folders in your My
Dropbox folder:

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 1. Right-click on a folder or a file and select Dropbox
2. See the file on the website to view its history and see previous version
3. Open a webpage listing all the files in this folder, including deleted files
4. Share this folder with others

Using the Dropbox website to manage your files

The Dropbox website is useful for the following:

1. Accessing files when away from computer
2. Searching for files
3. Managing file sharing
4. Viewing file revision history and recovering deleted files
5. Viewing recent additions to Dropbox

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Viewing activity history: Searching:

See https://www.dropbox.com/help for more details.

Saving files to Dropbox

Move or save your files to My Documents > My Dropbox

Any files you save in the My Dropbox folder will be automatically synchronised
with the Dropbox service and all other computers linked to it.

Getting files from Dropbox

Go to Start > My Documents > My Dropbox

You can also get files using the web interface. See above.

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Sharing a folder
1. Right-click on a folder
2. Choose Dropbox > Share this folder…
3. A web page will open where you can type in the email addresses of
people you want to share the folder with

Dropbox will remember email addresses after you’ve typed them in once.
4. The invited people will receive an email asking them to accept their
participation in the folder

Note: Make sure you share all your folders with

trainingcourses@dyslexiaaction.org.uk. This way we can keep track of all
our files in one place.

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Managing Sharing Options on a folder
1. Right-click on a shared folder in your My Dropbox folder
2. Choose Dropbox > Sharing Options
3. A web page will open where you can see who has access to this folder
and add more users

Joining a shared folder

You will receive an email inviting your to join a shared folder. Follow the link in
the email. A web page will open asking you to accept the invitation.

You will then receive a pop-up notification:

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Getting previous versions of files
1. Right-click on the file
2. Choose Dropbox > Previous Versions
3. Your browser will open this webpage:

You can:
1. Click on the Preview icon to see what the file was; You can then
Save this version as a new file OR
2. Choose the appropriate version and hit the ‘Restore’ button

Understanding Dropbox Icons

Main Dropbox folder: All file inside have
been synchronised with the server

A folder inside the main Dropbox folder that

has been shared with others

A folder inside the main Dropbox folder that

has been fully synchronised

A folder inside the main Dropbox folder that

is still synchronising either because not all
the files have been copied to the server or
because one of the files is still open.
Dropbox is actively watching the Dropbox
folder and all files are synchronised with the
server
Dropbox is currently synchronising files
between your computer and your server

Making sure files are backed up

Dropbox can only back up files that are open. Make sure you close the
document you’re working so that it can get backed up.

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Restoring Deleted Files
If you’ve deleted a file or a folder by mistake, you can restore it from the
Dropbox web interface. Dropbox keeps copies of all deleted and changed files
for 30 days. Follow this simple procedure. (See also, Managing Dropbox on
Your Computer)
1. Right-click on the Dropbox icon and choose ‘Launch Dropbox Website’

2. Navigate to the folder where the file or deleted subfolder was located and
click on ‘Show deleted files’

3. The deleted files and folders will show up in grey:

4. Hover your mouse over the file you want to undelete and click on the
blue down arrow to show the options menu (1.). Then choose Undelete
(2.)

If you want to restore multiple files and/or folders, check the checkbox next to
the files you want to restore:

Then scroll up to the top of the page, click on ‘More actions’ and choose
‘Undelete’.

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WARNING! Read about reinstalling or changing a
computer with Dropbox
If you move to a different computer and delete all your files on the old one or
need to reinstall the operating system on your existing computer where you run
Dropbox, you must UNLINK this computer from Dropbox syncing first, otherwise
Dropbox will think you’ve deleted all the data on purpose and delete it on all
computers, including in other people’s shared folder!

No data is lost if restored within 30 days. (See below on restoring data.) But you
may end up with some duplicate files and have to set up sharing on shared
folder again.

To unlink a computer, follow this simple procedure:

5. Right-click on the Dropbox icon and choose ‘Launch Dropbox Website’

(Also, see Managing Dropbox above)

6. Click on Account in the top right-hand corner:

7. Click on ‘My Computers’

8. Click on ‘Unlink’ next to the computer you no longer use or want to

refresh the system on:

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