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tdubois1's avatar
tdubois1
Explorer | Level 4
2 years ago

How to see the viewing history of a file?

Hello, I have Dropbox Enterprise account. My research shows that I can view the history of views for a document or folder. I feel like I found where to do this in the "activity tab" but the people to whom I need to know that they viewed show up as 'external participant' with locations that suggest a VPN. Am I looking in the wrong place? We need to know if someone viewed a document to help us close on a RE transaction. If this feature does not exist is there a way to require confirmation of viewing to those people we share a folder with?

  • Hannah's avatar
    Hannah
    2 years ago

    Hey tdubois1, thanks for the update here.

     

    The names of the non-team members that viewed the files while signed into their Dropbox accounts, would appear in the viewer info.

     

    However, if someone viewed the file through a link and they weren't signed into Dropbox at all, they will appear as that "external participant" you saw.

     

    I hope this and the linked article give you the info you need.

  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    Hey tdubois1, let's jump right into this! 

     

    It sounds based on the info, that the people you're referring to aren't members of your team, is that correct? 

     

    Can you also clarify if you used the steps mentioned in this article, or the steps in this one? A screenshot of what you see when using your Activity tab would be most helpful. 

     

    Keep me posted, and we'll take it from there!

    • tdubois1's avatar
      tdubois1
      Explorer | Level 4

      It is correct that the people we need to know if they viewed the documents are not part of our team. I can't get a screenshot now for a few days.

      • Hannah's avatar
        Hannah
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

        Hey tdubois1, thanks for the update here.

         

        The names of the non-team members that viewed the files while signed into their Dropbox accounts, would appear in the viewer info.

         

        However, if someone viewed the file through a link and they weren't signed into Dropbox at all, they will appear as that "external participant" you saw.

         

        I hope this and the linked article give you the info you need.

  • harshsrivastava's avatar
    harshsrivastava
    New member | Level 2

    Hi,

    I need to view who viewed or downloaded a file. Can I possibly get the audit logs with information about the same.

    Although the file is already deleted by me, but I need to check if anyone had downloaded before deleting.

    Thanks,

    Har**bleep** Srivastava

    • Hannah's avatar
      Hannah
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Hey harshsrivastava, thanks for reaching out to our Community.

       

      I'm afraid there's no such audit log that you can access, especially if the file is deleted.

       

      If you restore the file, depending on your plan, you can see certain info, like if someone is currently viewing your file, or when they last viewed it, but there's no specific info on downloads.

       

      I hope this helps.

  • Ivan Leung's avatar
    Ivan Leung
    New member | Level 2

    Hello, I have Dropbox Enterprise account. My research shows that I can view the history of views for a document or folder. I feel like I found where to do this in the "activity tab" but the people to whom I need to know that they viewed show up as 'external participant' with locations that suggest a VPN. Am I looking in the wrong place? We need to know if someone viewed a document to help us close on a RE transaction. If this feature does not exist is there a way to require confirmation of viewing to those people we share a folder with?

    • Megan's avatar
      Megan
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Hi Ivan Leung, welcome to our Community! 

       

      I've merged your question under a similar, almost identical thread where the OP expressed the same inquiry.

       

      Feel free to have a look at what was already suggested here, and if you have any questions, you can let me know!

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