Among the most used cloud services in the world at home and office (for companies there is a different market), there is certainly Dropbox, which for more than 10 years can be used for free to upload files online and synchronize folders with a continuous backup .
Registration to DropBox is free and can be done from the official dropbox.com website. For free accounts, 2 GB of space is made available, which is less than that of the big competitors such as Google Drive and Onedrive, but more than enough to store documents. Paid accounts start from subscriptions of 10 Euros per month for 2 TB of space.
Cloud means that files are uploaded to servers that are always accessible via an internet connection and that these files can be used by any device, with the changes being synchronized between all the computers used. If you install the Dropbox client on your PC, you can dedicate 2GB of your hard disk to the cloud service making them reachable from all over the world, in a safe and secure way.
Unofficially, it is also possible to download a portable Dropbox for USB sticks, without installation.
The client creates another folder called Dropbox inside the documents folder and everything that is copied inside it is synchronized and will be found both on the website and on the other computers .
The application automatically synchronizes the contents of the DropBox folder directly on Dropbox creating a real virtual hard disk on the computer and allowing the recovery of these files at any time and from any other PC. As happens with a backup program, the changes on the files that are made are automatically received on DropBox through its synchronization service, the important thing is that the file remains in the DropBox folder.
Files, documents, photos, videos can be uploaded on the internet with a simple drag & drop on the My DropBox folder and can be shared with everyone giving the opportunity to download all the files that each one shares (but they can also remain private). In fact, optionally, each folder and file can be shared with other users or with anyone.
Keep in mind that the Dropbox folder cannot be moved once it is created. The only way to move it is by using symbolic links. In another article we saw how to synchronize any online folder in the Clouds with symbolic links and how to share any folder in Dropbox.
Furthermore, it is also possible to use Dropbox as a PC disk partition.
As seen in other articles, you can protect confidential files on Dropbox with Boxcryptor so that they are not visible without a password.
Dropbox for Android and iPhone can be downloaded from their respective stores.
- Archive the files to be kept online so that they are not lost even when changing computers.
- Synchronize the files to have them always the same and updated on all the used PCs.
- Share files or file folders for others to download.
- Transfer files directly. The latter function is a new feature of Dropbox 2019 which has integrated a service similar to that of WeTransfer on its website.
Dropbox is also one of the most flexible Cloud services, with applications to use Dropbox in different ways such as, for example, to manage music, photos and websites in DropBox.
To share a folder, just open the file section, move the mouse over a file or folder and press the Share button. You can then indicate the email addresses of people to share the file or folder with or click to create a public link that anyone can view and download.
It is also possible to receive files on Dropbox via Email or via the web and also send or receive attachments on Gmail with Dropbox.
Dropbox customers, but to everyone, without having to worry about access rights or sharing options.
The transfer allows you to send up to 100 GB of files (even if the free account has a limit of 100 MB). To use the Dropbox transfer just open your account from the dropbox.com website and then click on Transfer in the menu on the left. Then select the files from the disk to create a link that recipients can use to download the file. The transfer can be password protected. You can also set an expiration date after which the file can no longer be downloaded by recipients. View statistics allow you to see how many times the transfer was made.
READ ALSO: Comparison of free Cloud Drives to save files online0
Registration to DropBox is free and can be done from the official dropbox.com website. For free accounts, 2 GB of space is made available, which is less than that of the big competitors such as Google Drive and Onedrive, but more than enough to store documents. Paid accounts start from subscriptions of 10 Euros per month for 2 TB of space.
Cloud means that files are uploaded to servers that are always accessible via an internet connection and that these files can be used by any device, with the changes being synchronized between all the computers used. If you install the Dropbox client on your PC, you can dedicate 2GB of your hard disk to the cloud service making them reachable from all over the world, in a safe and secure way.
Install Dropbox on PC
The files can be loaded directly from the site or even using the Dropbox program which can be downloaded from Dropbox.com and installed on Windows, Mac and Linux. Dropbox also offers apps for iPhone and Android, so you can upload files to the cloud from your smartphone.Unofficially, it is also possible to download a portable Dropbox for USB sticks, without installation.
The client creates another folder called Dropbox inside the documents folder and everything that is copied inside it is synchronized and will be found both on the website and on the other computers .
The application automatically synchronizes the contents of the DropBox folder directly on Dropbox creating a real virtual hard disk on the computer and allowing the recovery of these files at any time and from any other PC. As happens with a backup program, the changes on the files that are made are automatically received on DropBox through its synchronization service, the important thing is that the file remains in the DropBox folder.
Files, documents, photos, videos can be uploaded on the internet with a simple drag & drop on the My DropBox folder and can be shared with everyone giving the opportunity to download all the files that each one shares (but they can also remain private). In fact, optionally, each folder and file can be shared with other users or with anyone.
Keep in mind that the Dropbox folder cannot be moved once it is created. The only way to move it is by using symbolic links. In another article we saw how to synchronize any online folder in the Clouds with symbolic links and how to share any folder in Dropbox.
Furthermore, it is also possible to use Dropbox as a PC disk partition.
As seen in other articles, you can protect confidential files on Dropbox with Boxcryptor so that they are not visible without a password.
Dropbox on Android and iPhone
The Dropbox app for smartphones has several very useful and convenient functions, including the function to scan a document with the camera, the auto backup of photos in the cloud and the possibility to open files even without an internet connection.Dropbox for Android and iPhone can be downloaded from their respective stores.
Dropbox functions: store and transfer files
Dropbox features are as follows:- Archive the files to be kept online so that they are not lost even when changing computers.
- Synchronize the files to have them always the same and updated on all the used PCs.
- Share files or file folders for others to download.
- Transfer files directly. The latter function is a new feature of Dropbox 2019 which has integrated a service similar to that of WeTransfer on its website.
Dropbox is also one of the most flexible Cloud services, with applications to use Dropbox in different ways such as, for example, to manage music, photos and websites in DropBox.
To share a folder, just open the file section, move the mouse over a file or folder and press the Share button. You can then indicate the email addresses of people to share the file or folder with or click to create a public link that anyone can view and download.
It is also possible to receive files on Dropbox via Email or via the web and also send or receive attachments on Gmail with Dropbox.
Dropbox Transfer
Transfer is designed as an easy way to send files to anyone, not just other users as wellDropbox customers, but to everyone, without having to worry about access rights or sharing options.
The transfer allows you to send up to 100 GB of files (even if the free account has a limit of 100 MB). To use the Dropbox transfer just open your account from the dropbox.com website and then click on Transfer in the menu on the left. Then select the files from the disk to create a link that recipients can use to download the file. The transfer can be password protected. You can also set an expiration date after which the file can no longer be downloaded by recipients. View statistics allow you to see how many times the transfer was made.
READ ALSO: Comparison of free Cloud Drives to save files online0
