Overview
This article is designed to provide Dropbox users with an overview of Dropbox team folders. Team folders are available to UO faculty and staff only.
What are Dropbox Team folders?
A Dropbox Team folder allows data storage separate from your personal UO Dropbox storage. A Team folder will appear in the Dropbox account of each member of the associated group. For example, if you have access to the UO-Origami-Club team folder, you are a member of the UO-Origami-Club group, and the UO-Origami-Club team folder will appear in your UO Dropbox account.
Dropbox team folders are organizationally owned. What this means is even if the original requester of the Team leaves the University, the data and access within the Team folder will remain intact. This is ideal for business and research continuity. Individual folders that are shared for collaboration will disappear after the individual has left their position with the University - time lines for that can be found in the Technology Access Timelines article.
Team Folder Permissions Management
Team folder permissions are managed through two different methods:
- Group Based Access (default): Every time the UO Dropbox Administrators create a new Team Folder, they create a Dropbox Group of the same name and tie it to the team folder. The initial requester will be provided the Manager role within that group - adding or removing users from this group will provide them full access to all content within the Team folder. The group manager can also grant other members the manager role within the group to allow for collaborative access management.
- File/Folder level sharing: Individual folders or files within the Team folder can be shared much the same way you share a personal Dropbox file or folder. When this happens, only the specific file or folder you have shared will be accessible to the specified individual - they will not automatically inherit full access to the whole Team folder as happens when you add someone to the Dropbox Group.
Comparison of personal and Team folders
Here is a comparison of using a personal shared folder vs a Team folder:
| |
Personal or Shared folder |
Team folder |
| Owner |
Individual User |
Dropbox Group |
| Default visibility |
Private to you |
Accessible by members of the Dropbox Group |
| Storage counts against |
Your individual quota |
Your Team folder's quota |
| Created by |
Individual User |
IT Staff at user request |
| Persists after user leaves |
No - eventually deleted |
Yes - ownership and access retained by other members of the Team folder |
| Best for |
Individual or ad-hoc work |
Ongoing collaborative work |
| Storage Limit |
2 TB - Hard Cap |
2 TB - Expandable by request |
Where to go for support
If you have any additional questions about Dropbox Team Folders and which type would be best for your group, please create a request ticket on the Dropbox Support service page.