File access request on a shared file

[Silentcartoonist24]

I got a notification where someone is asking for access to a file that I made so that anyone can download. Why and how does this happen?

[Walter]

Hi there @Silentcartoonist24 - thanks for using Dropbox and welcome to our Community!

Can you clarify if you're talking about an email notification or a notification you got within the app or on the website?

Did you share a file or a folder via a link recently? 

Let us know more and we'll take it from there. 

[Silentcartoonist24]

Thanks for getting back to me!

it’s a file that I’ve shared the link to a Procreate forum about 4 years ago. The notification both appeared on my account and the same email address that sends me notifications any time someone leaves a comment on the shared file. The file is set so that anyone can download it and I’ve never had a file access request notification until today. So I felt a little concerned. 

[Hannah]

Hey @Silentcartoonist24, if you go through the sharing settings for the link, can you confirm it's a "can view" one and not a "can edit" one?

You'll find these settings if you click on the "share" button next to the file in your "all files" page.

[Silentcartoonist24]

Yeah it’s set to “can view”.

[Jay]

HI @Silentcartoonist24, this is the new behavior with shared links, that users can request access to the file itself, and add it to their account, making them members to the file.

[Silentcartoonist24]

Is this something that can happen on all versions of Dropbox, including basic?

[Jay]

Yes, this is currently on all Dropbox plans, free and paid alike.

[Silentcartoonist24]

I still have trouble understanding this, though…I tried making alt accounts to try and recreate the same scenario, but I haven’t found any ways others could just submit an access request vs just downloading it.

could this be something that happens between the free version and a paid version?

[Walter]

Could you send us a screenshot of what you see when you load the link on an incognito window @Silentcartoonist24 ?

If you could also include a screenshot of the email and the notifications you got about this, I'd appreciate it.

Apart from that, can you clarify the anatomy of the URL of the shared link at hand? Are we talking about http://Dropbox.com/s/, http://Dropbox.com/sh/, or http://Dropbox.com/scl/ ?