Business Basic: an overview

What do you get with Business Basic?

Business Basic teams have access to basic Dropbox features with the following restrictions:

If you want to access additional features, add more team members, or get additional upload or storage allowances, you’ll need to sign up for a Dropbox for teams plan.

Learn more about how to check your Dropbox storage space. 

What counts towards your new shared links limit?

Each Business Basic member can create up to 10 new shared links per month, so your new monthly shared links limit will be renewed on the first day of every month. When a member successfully creates a new shared link in Dropbox, that counts as one of 10 new shared links per month. Copying that link doesn’t count towards your monthly limit. Once the limit is reached, existing links will continue to work, but members won’t be able to create new links.

Use the table below to identify what actions create a new shared link: 

What counts towards your monthly upload limit?

Each team member can upload up to 2 GB per calendar month, so your new monthly upload limit will be renewed on the first day of every month. Your monthly upload limit is combined across the Dropbox website, desktop app, mobile app, and any connected devices.

Deleting files may free space in your team’s shared storage, but it doesn’t restore your monthly upload limit. Your monthly upload limit resets on the first day of each calendar month.

What happens when a member reaches their upload limit?

When a member reaches their upload limit, they can’t upload new files until their limit resets on the first of the month. Reaching an upload limit only affects that member. Other members of the team can continue to upload, sync, and share files, as long as the team hasn’t reached its storage limit.

What happens when your team reaches its storage limit?

When your team reaches its storage limit, some Dropbox features become unavailable until your team frees up space or upgrades.

• Sharing: You can’t create new shared links or add new shared folders.
• Sync: Sync pauses. Files won’t sync in the Dropbox desktop or mobile apps until your team frees up space or upgrades.

Admin console access

Every team member can view the admin console, but only the team admin can use the admin console to upgrade the team, add and remove members, and control external sharing settings. In addition to using it to manage content in the team space, you can use it to: 

• Manage and track how much storage you’re using
• Manage invitations and membership
• View team activity
• Manage team folders

How to manage your team space and content

Everyone in a Dropbox Business Basic team shares a team space, which includes team folders and personal folders. Dropbox Business Basic teams can create up to three team folders, which are top-level shared folders for organizing team files and subfolders. Learn more about the team space.

Once you’ve created a team, you can start managing your team folders and content. You can easily share team folders with the entire team at once, and decide who can access team content. Learn more about managing team folders as an admin.

Personal folders vs Team folders

Team members will have access to two types of folders: 

Personal folder: Files in this private folder aren’t accessible to other team members, unless you choose to share them. 

Team folders: Members should move files and folders containing ongoing team work from their personal folder into shared team folders. This means that everyone with access to that team folder can automatically find and collaborate on it. Learn more about using shared folders.

Members’ personal folders and team folders all use your team’s storage space. 

How the three team folder limit works

The team folder limit applies to the total number of top-level team folders across the entire team. All top-level team folders count toward the limit, regardless of whether they were created by an admin or a team member.

Folders nested inside a top-level team folder don’t count toward this limit.

Deleting and restoring team folders

Who can delete a top-level team folder depends on your team’s Top-level folder management setting:

• If the setting is All members, team members and admins can delete top-level team folders.
• If the setting is Admins only, only admins can delete them.
• Only admins can restore a deleted team folder.

Learn more about top-level folder management.

A deleted team folder that can still be recovered doesn’t continue to occupy a slot in your team folder limit. Once the folder is deleted, its slot can be used to create another top-level team folder.

If an admin restores the deleted folder, it counts toward the limit again. If restoring the folder would put the team over its limit, the folder can’t be restored until capacity is available or the team upgrades.

What happens when you reach the limit?

Once your team reaches its top-level team folder limit, you can’t create additional top-level team folders.

To create more, upgrade your Dropbox plan. You can also delete top-level team folders you no longer need to make room.

How to invite members to your Business Basic team

Once someone accepts an invite, they'll have access to the team folders they have permissions for. Learn how to invite members to your team.

If you try to invite more than 10 members to your team, you’ll be given the option to upgrade your plan to invite more than 10 members. Alternatively, you can remove an existing member to create a space for a new member.

Manage who can send invites

Everyone on your team can invite new members by default. Admins can change this setting in the admin console.

To turn this off:

1. Log in to dropbox.com.
2. Click Admin console.
3. Click Settings.
4. Click the Members tab. 
5. Toggle Members can invite people to Off.

How to join a Business Basic team

To join a Business Basic team: 

As an existing Dropbox user

To join a team you’ve been invited to:

1. Open the invite in your email inbox.
2. Click Join team.
3. Log in to your Dropbox account.
4. Select Yes or No when asked if you have files that your admin shouldn’t have access to.
   • If Yes, we’ll recommend that you create a new Dropbox account, with a new email address for your existing files before you join the team.
   • If No, your existing files will be added to a personal folder within the team. These existing files will use the team’s 2 GB storage space quota.

If you don’t have a Dropbox account

To join a team:

1. Open the invite in your email inbox.
2. Click Join team.
3. Enter your name, email, and password.
4. Check your inbox for a verification email.

Once you’ve verified your email, you’ll have full access the team and any team folders you’ve been given access to by your admin.

How to upgrade your Business Basic team

To add more than 10 members, the team admin must upgrade to a Dropbox for teams plan. Upgrading your team will give you access to premium features such as customer support, and unlock additional storage,  shared links, member uploads, and team folders.

Learn more about Dropbox for teams plans.

How to upgrade your team (admins)

1. Log in to dropbox.com.
2. Click Upgrade in the top right.
3. Choose the number of licenses you need and whether you want to be billed monthly or yearly.
   • Note: You can’t add fewer licenses than the number of members on your existing team.
4. Enter your payment details.
5. Check the box agreeing to the Dropbox Business Agreement and Terms.
6. Click Purchase.

How to request to upgrade your team (members)

Only a team admin can purchase an upgrade. If you’re a team member, click Upgrade then choose Ask an admin to request an upgrade. Your admin will receive the request by email and in Dropbox.

How to disband a Business Basic team

Only team admins  disband the team. To disband your team:

1. Log in to dropbox.com using your admin credentials.
2. Click on the team name in the top left.
3. Choose Disband team from the dropdown menu.
4. Choose your reason for leaving, then click Continue.
5. Choose what to do with team files once the disband is completed.
   • Note: To prevent team members from keeping access to content that was in the team space, it’s easiest to select Save files and move to individual accounts. This transfers the ownership of the team files to the admin. You can then choose to unshare specific files and folders both before and after the team disband.
6. Click Confirm.

When you disband your team:

• All team members will get a Dropbox Basic account that contains their personal folder. 
• The content in the team space will be placed into shared folders, owned by the team admin who triggered the team disband. All users who previously had access to this content, including admins, team members, and external collaborators will continue to have access to the shared folders.
• Replay content won’t be accessible after the team disbands.

Once a team disbands, the following will also happen:

• The team structure will be deleted.
• Anyone granted access to shared folders within team folders will keep their permissions, so they can view and interact with the content within.
• Pending invites will be deleted.
• Content from deleted team members will be permanently lost.
• Deleted files and folders can't be restored.
• Pending signature requests will be canceled.
• Signed documents can’t be edited, but can still be viewed or downloaded by all users who previously had access to the team folder.

Basic teams

Basic teams is a free Dropbox team plan in certain locales for some users on Dropbox Basic, and some users who downgraded from trials or paid team plans. Users in other locations can accept invites to join existing Basic teams. New teams can no longer join Basic teams.

What’s different for Basic teams?

Current customers on Basic teams won’t experience any changes to their existing plan features. It offers the same features as Business Basic, but the following limits don’t apply:

• Three team folder limit 
• Monthly upload limit of 2 GB 
• Monthly limit of 10 new shared links 

Other existing Basic teams limits, including the 10-member team limit and 2 GB of shared team storage, remain unchanged.