We're making changes to the Community, so you may have received some notifications - thanks for your patience and welcome back. Learn more here.
Forum Discussion
pduk
7 years agoNew member | Level 2
Password Protect Folders/Files Not Working
Hi,
I have the business account so should be able to set passwords for files and folders when I share them. I attempted to do this with a file - I went through the steps to set a password and shared it to the email address of a colleague.
They clicked the link in the email they received ("go to folder") and it took them to log in. Which they did. Dropbox asked them to add the folder. Which they did.
HOWEVER, when they clicked on the folder it opened without any password being asked for. There was also a password protected file inside the folder. They could also open this without being prompted for a password.
Please can you advise as to why this is happening and how to rectify it.
pduk wrote:
I have the business account ...
Do you have a Dropbox Business account, or a Basic/Plus/Professional account that you're using for business purposes? You can see the exact plan that you have on the Plan page. Basic, Plus and Professional accounts are considered personal accounts.
They clicked the link in the email they received ("go to folder") and it took them to log in. Which they did. Dropbox asked them to add the folder. Which they did.This sounds like you shared a folder with your colleague. A shared folder cannot be password protected and there's no way (using Dropbox) to password protect the content of a shared folder. Since a shared folder is shared to a specific individual and a Dropbox account is required, there's no need to further protect it with an individual password. Only the people you specifically share it with can access it.
A share link can be password protected, if you have a Professional or Business account. Basic and Plus accounts (Plus, formerly known as Pro) do not have this feature unless they were grandfathered in when Professional accounts were made available (about 7 months ago). A Dropbox account is not required for the recipient, so they wouldn't be required to log in before they could view the content.
Note that the password on share links is really a false sense of security, in my opinion. Share links can easily be passed on to another person (or posted online) along with the password, and you would never know it. If you need to ensure the security of a file or folder (and even that isn't 100% secure since anyone could just copy the content to a new folder and re-share it), then you should use a shared folder and invite the specific individuals that require access to the content.
- RichSuper User II
pduk wrote:
I have the business account ...
Do you have a Dropbox Business account, or a Basic/Plus/Professional account that you're using for business purposes? You can see the exact plan that you have on the Plan page. Basic, Plus and Professional accounts are considered personal accounts.
They clicked the link in the email they received ("go to folder") and it took them to log in. Which they did. Dropbox asked them to add the folder. Which they did.This sounds like you shared a folder with your colleague. A shared folder cannot be password protected and there's no way (using Dropbox) to password protect the content of a shared folder. Since a shared folder is shared to a specific individual and a Dropbox account is required, there's no need to further protect it with an individual password. Only the people you specifically share it with can access it.
A share link can be password protected, if you have a Professional or Business account. Basic and Plus accounts (Plus, formerly known as Pro) do not have this feature unless they were grandfathered in when Professional accounts were made available (about 7 months ago). A Dropbox account is not required for the recipient, so they wouldn't be required to log in before they could view the content.
Note that the password on share links is really a false sense of security, in my opinion. Share links can easily be passed on to another person (or posted online) along with the password, and you would never know it. If you need to ensure the security of a file or folder (and even that isn't 100% secure since anyone could just copy the content to a new folder and re-share it), then you should use a shared folder and invite the specific individuals that require access to the content.
- mribNew member | Level 2
I have a business dropbox free trial account. When I send the password protected link of a folder to myself (separate email address). I still don't get the password entry box to access the folder just a sign in dropbox account. Please help!
- WalterDropbox Staff
Hey there mrib - sorry to hear you're having issues with your password protected sahred links.
Can you create a new shared link for testing purposes and let me know if you still notice the same behavior?
If you do, please forward me the shared link in question so I can investigate further.
Thanks!
About Create, upload, and share
Find help to solve issues with creating, uploading, and sharing files and folders in Dropbox. Get support and advice from the Dropbox Community.
Need more support
If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.
For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.
If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!