Lately I have had many customers ask me about the best way to share files (with me) that are too large to send via email. While there are many ways to do this (ftp, sftp, box.net, etc…), I have begun to prefer the free service DropBox. DropBox is more than just a file sharing tool. It can keep files and folders synchronized between multiple computers, their own secure internet website, and multiple DropBox users. It is also fairly multi-platform in that it is available for Windows, Mac, and Linux. Thus using DropBox will not only make it easy to share files between people, it can become an extremely valuable tool for one’s daily routine.

Simple Tutorial

To facilitate sharing files between myself and my customers I have created a very simple tutorial to get started with DropBox and file sharing. This tutorial is very simplified and the easy to follow DropBox help system should be consulted for more information.

Using DropBox to Synchronize Files between multiple computers

Keeping files and folders synchronized between multiple computers is extremely easy. You need only to sign up for a free DropBox account (here) and install DropBox on all the computers you wish to sync too. Then simply drag files and folders into your “DropBox folder” and your files will automatically be synchronized.

Using DropBox to File Share

Using DropBox to share files is a bit complex to set up, but once set up it will become an extremely easy way to share files in the future. For example, to create a file share, simply instruct the other person to sign up to a free DropBox account (here), install the software, and alert you. Then sign into the DropBox website and choose the “Sharing” tab.

Next click the “Share a folder” button:

Then simply instruct DropBox to create a new folder (or user an existing DropBox folder):

Finally, type the email addresses of the persons you wish to share with and click “Share Folder.”

Once the other people have elected to accept the file share, you may simply drag files and folders into the newly created Shared Folder inside of your DropBox folder and those files will be automatically sent to all the shared persons. It’s that easy.

Conclusion

DropBox is an easy to use tool which facilitates securely synchronizing files and folders between multiple computers, people, and the internet. I highly recommend trying out the free service.

To sign up for a free DropBox account please follow this link.

• Posted: Friday, Sep-18-2009
•  2 Comments
• This post was filed under General and tagged with: DropBox, File Sharing, Linux, Multi-Platform, OSX, Tutorial, and Windows.