• The Dropbox desktop app runs on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. Apps are also available for iOS, Android, and Windows mobile devices. And you can transfer and download files from dropbox.com using most modern browsers. For more details, visit.
• Dropbox Paper is a desktop app for Mac, PC and Linux computers to manage all your Dropbox Paper accounts in one place. Manage multiple Dropbox Paper accounts. Switch between Dropbox Paper accounts with keyboard shortcuts. Run Dropbox Paper in self-contained, distraction-free windows.

1. How To Install Dropbox On My Computer
2. How To Remove Dropbox Desktop App Mac
3. Dropbox Install Mac

Dropbox is a file hosting service operated by the American company Dropbox, Inc., headquartered in San Francisco, California, that offers cloud storage, file synchronization, personal cloud, and client software. Dropbox was founded in 2007 by MIT students Drew Houston and Arash Ferdowsi as a startup company, with initial funding from seed accelerator Y Combinator. Download Dropbox to get started. Download Dropbox.

Depending on your operating system (Linux, macOS, or Windows), you may see some or all of the options below in the preferences menu. On Linux, you can change some of these settings using commands.

Settings in the general tab

Start Dropbox on system startup

You can have Dropbox launch automatically whenever you start your computer. This option is recommended in order to keep your Dropbox folder synced online and to other computers at all times.

Language

How To Install Dropbox On My Computer

To specify a different language from the default operating system settings, select it from this menu.

Dropbox Badge

Choose if Dropbox badge appears each time you open a Microsoft Office file, to see it only when others are viewing a file, or to never see the badge.

Open folders in

You can choose to open folders automatically in the Dropbox folder in Finder/File Explorer or the desktop app. Learn how to change that preference.

About Dropbox

This is the current version of your Dropbox installation. Reference this number in support cases or to see if you have the latest version of Dropbox.

Settings in the account tab

In the account tab you can sign in and out of your Dropbox accounts, view which plan you’re on, and view your storage space. If you have two linked accounts, you can sign in and out of them in this tab. If you sign into both your linked accounts, you can easily switch between them in the desktop app.

How To Remove Dropbox Desktop App Mac

Settings in the backups tab

Devices

Devices configured for importing photos will show up here.

Photos

Choose if you want to enable camera uploads to automatically upload photos and videos from your phone, camera, SD card, or other devices whenever you connect to your computer.

Screenshots

Whenever you take a screenshot, Dropbox will automatically save it to your Dropbox and copy a link to your clipboard so you can share it instantly.

Settings in the bandwidth or network tab

To change bandwidth settings on a Mac computer, click Network, then click Change Settings... next to Bandwidth.

Download rate

• Don't limit: Select this radio button if you want Dropbox to download files from the Dropbox server at the fastest available speed.
• Limit to: Limit the rate of download by entering your own download rate in kilobytes per second. Entering '0' will tell Dropbox to download at the fastest speed available.

Upload rate

• Don't limit: Select this radio button if you want Dropbox to upload files to Dropbox at the fastest available speed.
• Limit automatically: Select this radio button if you want Dropbox to determine the speed at which to upload your files when it is syncing.
• Limit to: Choose your own upload rate here in kilobytes per second

LAN sync

LAN sync is a networking feature that allows you to save time and bandwidth by downloading files directly from other computers on your local network. Deselecting this option will force Dropbox to sync from Dropbox servers every time it detects a change in your Dropbox folder.

Settings in the proxies or network tab

To change proxies settings on a Mac computer, click Network, then click Change Settings... next to Proxies.

Proxy settings

• No proxy: Choose no proxy server to tell Dropbox if you don't use a proxy server. Choosing this option may bypass some issues that occur when Dropbox attempts to find a proxy server and fails
• Auto-detect: This option will let Dropbox auto-detect your proxy settings. Select this option if you are unsure if your internet connection requires a proxy server
• Manual: Select this radio button to allow you to enter your proxy settings manually. This option is typically for users or administrators who have a non-standard proxy server configuration

When Manual is selected, the following settings will be available for editing:

• Proxy type: This pulldown will let you select your proxy server's protocol. Dropbox supports HTTP, SOCKS4, and SOCKS5.
• Server: Enter the URL and port of your proxy server here.
• Proxy server requires password: Select this checkbox if your proxy server requires a login. Once you do, the Username and Password fields will be editable.

Settings in the notifications tab

Notify me about

You can set your notification preferences to choose what notifications to receive.

Do not disturb

On Mac computers, you can turn off notifications for a limited time. Choose how long notifications are turned off for.

Settings in the sync tab

Selective sync

Selective sync lets you choose which folders from your Dropbox online account sync to the Dropbox folder on your computer. If you deselect a folder, it won't appear in your Dropbox folder, but it's still in your account on dropbox.com. We recommend you use selective sync for files you don't use very often.

Smart Sync

Smart Sync is only available to Dropbox Business, Plus, Family, and Professional users.

If you choose the Local setting, new files and folders that you add to your account on dropbox.com download to your computer's hard drive in the Dropbox folder.

If you choose the Online-only setting, new files and folders added to your account on dropbox.com display in your Dropbox folder on your computer, but are online-only.

Note: Smart Sync settings only apply to the top-level of folders inside your main Dropbox folder. All lower-level files and folders follow the setting of their parent folder, unless you change them individually.

Select Let my admin manage this setting to use your team's default setting.

Sync setting FAQs

Why are my files downloading to my computer when my Smart Sync is set to online-only?

There are two reasons a file may download to your computer’s Dropbox folder even though your Smart Sync is set to online-only:

• The file or folder was already on your computer when you added it to your Dropbox folder
  • In this case, the file or folder will continue to take up hard drive space unless you make it online-only
  • Note: You can also unsync it from your computer using selective sync
• You’re using an application that needed to download files to function properly, including:
  • Backup services
  • Antivirus software
  • Recently used file lists
  • Third party applications that monitor files

Why, after using selective sync, are my folders online-only when my Smart Sync is set to local?

If you’re using Smart Sync (which is only available to Dropbox Business, Plus, Family and Professional users), you can still use selective sync to sync folders from dropbox.com to your computer’s Dropbox folder. Those folders sync to your computer as online-only regardless of your Smart Sync setting, but you can change them to local at anytime.

To change a folder from online-only to local:

1. Right-click the folder.
2. Hover over Smart Sync.
3. Click Local.

Dropbox Install Mac

Dropbox folder location

This option changes the location of your Dropbox folder. Typically your Dropbox folder is installed in your user folder (the folder named after your login). However, you can choose any location on your hard drive with this option.

Note: While you can choose the location of your Dropbox folder, you currently can't change the name of your Dropbox folder. No matter where you put it, it will be named Dropbox or Dropbox (Team name) for Business accounts and Dropbox (Personal) for connected personal accounts.

Expand cloud storage on Mac

A number one cloud-based storage system today, Dropbox essentially made storing data online mainstream. This app simplifies syncing files across different devices and offers an easy way to share photos, folders, or send large files (i.e. too large for emails) to others. Although Dropbox isn’t the only cloud-based storage and syncing service for Mac, it remains extremely popular.

Even though, as a Mac user, you do already have iCloud storage and syncing service right at your fingertips, integrated with your Mac and other iOS devices, there are still reasons for you to download Dropbox for Mac.

Get Setapp for seamless storage control

No matter where you keep your precious files, Setapp apps will help you make storage management easy. A single toolkit for everything.

Dropbox makes it easy to share whatever it contains, by offering advanced features such as shared folders or the ability to copy a Dropbox link to allow someone to download a file from your folder. Besides, Dropbox is one of the more common cloud services used by third-party productivity apps that could offer you great additional features.

Despite iCloud and Dropbox both having basic cloud storage functionality, there are quite a few differences in what you can expect from each. You can’t easily share with iCloud, as its associated solely with a given Apple ID, while Dropbox lets you share folder contents with others, constantly syncing among those connected to the folder. On the other hand, don’t expect Dropbox to automatically sync your data like photos or contacts like iCloud does. You only get quick access to what you put inside your Dropbox folder.

How To Sync Dropbox On Mac Easily

While you can always access your data from the Dropbox website, in the long run, it's easier to install the Dropbox desktop app. Using the Dropbox desktop app means you won't have to manually upload or download files in your Dropbox folder and any time you make a change to a file and are connected to the internet that change will sync everywhere you have Dropbox installed. Dropbox app for Mac works even when you're offline — just like an ordinary folder.

How to install the Dropbox app for Mac?

To download Dropbox for Mac, look for the Dropbox installer on dropbox.com. Once the download of the Dropbox installer is complete, you should be able to find it (DropboxInstaller.dmg) in your Mac’s Downloads folder. Open the file to start your Dropbox download app:

1. Double-click on the Dropbox icon in the installer window

2. A warning sign will appear cautioning that Dropbox is an application you downloaded from the internet ➙ click Open to start the installation process

3. Once the basic installation is complete, Dropbox will ask you to sign in. If you don’t already have an existing Dropbox account, use the sign-up link near the bottom-right corner of the window and follow the online instructions to set up your Dropbox account.

If all done right, after you sign in to your Dropbox on Mac, you’ll see a congratulations message for successfully completing the installation. Well done!

Now on to your Dropbox folder. To set it up:

1. Click Open My Dropbox Folder button in the final installer window

2. Enter your Dropbox password ➙ then click OK

3. Dropbox will add itself to your Finder’s sidebar and deposit a Dropbox for Mac tutorial into your Dropbox folder (a Get Started with Dropbox .pdf file). Take a few moments to read through the guide — it provides a good outline for working with Dropbox.

Tips for using Dropbox on Mac

Understanding how does Dropbox work is easy. Once you install the Dropbox desktop app and set up your Dropbox account, it’ll appear on your computer as a special Dropbox folder, which will become the heart of how does Dropbox work. Anything you place inside that folder is automatically copied to the cloud and synced with your other devices that run Dropbox. Note that Dropbox might not automatically copy all the files on your computer (e.g. when you don’t have enough space) — you might have to pick and choose which ones you want to save.

Transferring files to the Dropbox folder is a matter of seconds. First Dropbox will show a blue icon with circling arrows in the lower left — this means copying the file and uploading it to the cloud. Once it’s done, the icon will turn green and display a check mark. If you wish to transfer multiple files at once:

1. Hold ⌘ and click on each file you want to move

2. Drag one of the files to move all selected ones into the Dropbox folder

What you don’t have to worry about is how to sync Dropbox. Dropbox for Mac automatically saves all data placed inside the folder across all devices. As long as you can access your account, you can download any file stored in your Dropbox folder on your local machine. For example, you can move pictures you took on your phone to Dropbox and look at them on your Mac in seconds.

One of Dropbox’s strongest features you should definitely benefit from is sharing files with colleagues and family members. To designate files for sharing:

1. Right-click on the item you wish to share in your Dropbox

2. Select the option that says “Share…” with a Dropbox icon next to it

3. In the text field below the question “Who do you want to share with?”, type the email addresses of the people with whom you want to share the file

4. Grant the permission you want, either view only or with the ability to edit the file

5. Once done, you’ll be able to write a message for the recipient(s) if you want to do so. You can also create a link to send to people yourself if you don’t want Dropbox to send the link by email.

Using Dropbox on Mac as pure cloud storage is popular too, as it helps you keep backup copies of important files safe and ready to restore should need be.

What is Dropbox pricing?

Dropbox is available in four pricing plans: the first three let you expand the amount of storage you have by referring others to the service. For example, the basic free version of Dropbox will give you 500 MB per referral, expanding the initial 2 GB to a possible maximum of 18 GB of free storage. A Plus plan for $9.99 per month will give you 1 TB of storage space.

More than just Dropbox app for Mac

Having been one of the best choices for cloud file storage for a long time, more and more often Dropbox isn’t the only one in the cloud services portfolio for many people. For personal and professional data storage needs, more than one service is frequently used.

Why? A combination of cloud-based storages increases your Mac’s disk space to virtually unlimited, as long as you have an active internet connection. Unfortunately, it also turns managing different cloud accounts into quite a hustle.

Use CloudMounter to keep every storage in one place

Forget the trouble of switching across your cloud storage accounts. CloudMounter enables you to access it all from one app.

Luckily, there are apps like CloudMounter that allow you to use all your storage solutions in one place. CloudMounter connects your cloud storage providers to your Mac as if they were your external drives. This lets you treat cloud data just like local files and even move documents between the different clouds.

Another benefit of using CloudMounter is its latest encryption algorithm that guarantees the security of your cloud files. Plus it allows encrypting sensitive data on the cloud and doesn’t share your login info with third parties. The app works perfectly with all major cloud services and could become your ultimate cloud manager if you’re constantly dealing with several cloud services or feel there’s not enough free space on your Mac’s SSD.

Even better, you could match amazing cloud-storage opportunities with clever productivity apps. One such example that uses Dropbox to sync your work files across all devices is Unclutter.

Unclutter does wonders for those of us with busy clipboard lives: when you often have to copy several things at once and be able to paste each of them multiple times. Instead of creating temporary work folders and flood your desktop with files, opt for Unclutter’s drag-and-drop area that keeps your desktop clean and all your files, links, and notes at your fingertips.

Even more, Unclutter keeps track of everything you copy to your Mac’s clipboard even after the system was rebooted, lets you create separate lists to save particular clips for future use, has a memo assistant to remind you of things you don’t want to miss, and can have all the different files ready for you every time you open your Mac. And you’ve guessed it right, all the content is auto-synced across all your Dropbox-connected devices!

Best of all, you can find CloudMounter and Unclutter mentioned above on a free trial through Setapp, a platform of more than 150 useful Mac apps and tools that will completely overhaul the way you interact with your computer. So you decided how to use Dropbox on Mac yet?

Meantime, prepare for all the awesome things you can do with Setapp.

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