I don’t have a Public folder in Dropbox

dropboxosx

I don't see a 'public folder' in my list. I also don't get the option of creating a 'public link' from any file: All I can click is 'share link'. The links I'm getting only work when I'm logged in to my Dropbox account, and I'm guessing they only work for me.

How can I make a public link?

Best Answer

The Public folder was a feature in Dropbox that was later removed. It now exists only for users who've signed up before it was disabled.

For newer accounts, you can share a link to any file from any directory by clicking Share Link. You can't, however, get a direct public link from the context menu itself.

See: What is the Public folder for? - Dropbox

Please note: New Dropbox accounts created after October 4, 2012 no longer have a Public folder.

If you want your link to be public, you don't have to do anything special. In the web page that pops up once you click Share Link, make sure you click Get Link to get the public link. You could also copy the URL that's displayed in your browser (the one starting with https://www.dropbox.com/s/some-random-string/filename.

Related Solutions

Dropbox Public Folder and HTML Previews

I think this is fine if you are only testing something for a few friends. However, there is an issue with using too much bandwidth if you try to host something through your public folder that becomes too popular. As per https://www.dropbox.com/help/45:

There are currently no hard limits on public bandwidth usage. We do, however, have an automated system for detecting and flagging unusual amounts of bandwidth usage. We will send an email notification whenever an account is flagged. Once flagged, public links will be temporarily disabled and users who use the links will see an error page instead of your file.

Dropbox Links – How to Create a Public Link from a Shared Folder

The link generated for a file is something like this:

https://www.dropbox.com/_someRandomStrings_/_theNameOfTheFile

If you replace www with dl it will take you directly to the respective file. Alternatively, adding ?dl=1 at the end of the link above, will redirect it to the dl.dropbox.com URL.

Now, if you have the link to a folder and you add ?dl=1 at the end, it will start downloading it as an archive.

Source. And the official source.

(I have tested the method and it works.)

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Dropbox Public Folder and HTML Previews

Dropbox Links – How to Create a Public Link from a Shared Folder

Related Topic