Master Dropbox in
Windows 1 0
1
DOWNLOAD THE APP
Go to http://www.dropbox.com to download and install the desktop
app. There is also an app in the Windows Store, but it’s more
like the mobile version of the app, and it doesn’t do the file
synchronization we want to show here. You may be prompted to
buy a Dropbox plan [Image A], but you don’t need to do that.2
SIGN INTO THE APP
You need to sign into the app to link it to a Dropbox account.
Don’t have a Dropbox account? Then you can sign up now.
You can also use Google to sign in if you have an existing Google
account. Creating a Dropbox account is a really simple process
and the app won’t ask you for extra details it doesn’t really need.3
SELECT FOLDERS
You c an either choose to s y nc ever y thing to your computer
from your Dropbox, or use what’s called Selective Sync.
With this, you choose which Dropbox folders to synchronize with
this par ticular PC [Image B]. With new Dropboxes, this won’t be a
problem, but we’re demonstrating this with a nearly full Dropbox
to show you how everything works, because it wouldn’t be much
good if we had no files to explain the process with.4
SHARE SCREENSHOTS
When you start up Dropbox for the first time, you get a
prompt [Image C] asking whether you want Dropbox
to manage screenshots as you take them—this can be useful
because they pop into a “Screenshots” folder in your Dropbox,
and sync right away. Similarly, you can ask Dropbox to instantly
sync photos from cameras you plug into your Windows PC, and it
prompts you about that when you plug one in.5
THE DROPBOX FOLDER
The key window of Dropbox is the local (on your PC) folder
that shows everything that’s currently in your Dropbox
[Image D]. As you can see, Dropbox overlays icons—these blue
spinning icons indicate synchronization taking place. A green
check mark means that file has been synchronized. Dropbox
updates in real time, so if a file is edited somewhere else, the
change is reflected right away.6
SHARE FILES
You can share files from just about anywhere in Dropbox—
here’s how to share in Windows. Right-click a file, then goDROPBOX IS AN APP THAT, at it s hear t, s y nchr onize s a folder on your P C w ith other computer s—
the same files are available everywhere. You can also access them via the web on any device,
although the files aren’t actually stored on your device, unless you choose to download them. In
many ways, it works very similarly to Microsoft’s OneDrive.
Dropbox isn’t really meant as a cold storage system—its plans for lots of storage are rather
expensive, and it’s recently been targeting business users over consumers—but for managing
the stuff you’re working on right now, it’s unparalleled. We often work across multiple devices
and use it as the main place to store our files, instead of our “Documents” folder. What’s more,
you can share files with other people, and easily find things, too. Dropbox is free for 2GB of
storage—if you need anything beyond that, you have to pay. –DAN GRABHAMYOU’LL NEED THIS
DROPBOX
Sign up for an account at
http://www.dropbox.com.to “Share” alongside the Dropbox icon. You’ll then see
a rather plain window [Image E], which enables you to
write a message and say where the file is going—just
add an email address. You can also share by copying a
Dropbox link that you can send in other ways, such as in
a text message.7
THE APP MENU
Finally, we see the Dropbox app! It sits in your
notifications area looking like it’s doing nothing.
In fact, it’s keeping an eye on your files and making
sure they synchronize. Clicking the Dropbox icon brings
up the menu shown opposite [Image F]—it shows you
all the recently edited and synchronized files, and when
they were modified. This menu also shows you any
notifications you need.8
FOR YOU
The “For You” menu seen opposite [Image G]
looks a little blank, but it’ll populate with tailored
access to files you use of ten. In our example, it’s show ing
our “Current Work” folder, which is one of our most-
used folders. Note that synchronization is taking place
here—you can see the progress at the very bottom of the
window, where Dropbox tells you how many files there
are left to process.9
SEARCH FOR ANYTHING
At the top of the app menu is a search bar. As well
as names and icons, Dropbox shows you other file
information, such as size, and when it was last edited. You
can also see where in your Dropbox the file is stored—
you might have a “january.xlsx” in a “2019” folder, but
also one in “2018” and “2017.” The “link” icon gets you a
link to the selected file directly from this window.10
MANAGING FILES
There are stacks of other file management
options in the main menu [Image H]. Select a
recently uploaded bunch of files, and you can unfurl the
bundle to see each file. You can share it, get a link, star it
for easy retrieval, or open the file. What’s more, you can
open it in specific apps, so if you want to send an image
to Photoshop, you can do that from here. ©^MI
CROSOFT,^ DROPBOX64 MAXIMUMPC JAN 2020 maximumpc.com
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