How to Make Files Available Offline in Dropbox

We don’t always have the luxury of staying online regardless of where we are. Having your files available offline is a good way to have access to them without being too worried whether your internet will hold up or if the place where you’re working has a strong a wifi connection. A lot of apps nowadays give their users the option to access their files without the internet. For instance, your favorite music streaming service might have the option to save your music offline. Similarly, Dropbox offers the option to save your files offline so you can have access to the files you uploaded to the website without the need to connect to the web.

If you are a Dropbox user, it goes without saying that you use the Dropbox app on your phone. Regardless of which operating system your device used, the Dropbox app has the offline mode available for its Android, iOS, and Windows mobile users.

Android and iOS

When you choose a file to be available offline, Dropbox adds it to “Offline view” which adds all the files you want to have available offline together in one place. It also saves the file to your mobile/tablet so you can view it offline through the Dropbox app.

To keep your file available offline on android,

1. Find to the file you want to access
2. Next to the file name, click on the three dots
3. Choose ‘Make available offline’

Now your file is saved and can be viewed when you are offline. Dropbox will regularly update the offline files to match the latest version of the online file, however, you can also do it manually.

In case you make any changes to the file offline, Dropbox will update the file and sync it as soon as you connect to the internet.

Windows Mobile

If you are using Windows Mobile, the steps are slightly different.

1. Find to the file you want to access.
2. Tab the file until a menu pops up
3. From the menu, choose ‘Make available offline’.

Make a Folder Available Offline

If you have a Dropbox Plus, Professional, Business, or Enterprise account, Dropbox lets you take this a step further. If there are multiple files that you would like to have available offline, Dropbox gives you the option to make up to 100 folders available offline but this option comes with some rules. The folder must be less than 100 GB containing no more than 10,000 files none of which is larger than 10 GB. If the folder meets the criteria, you can make it available offline.

This feature is not available for Windows Mobile but is available for Android and iOS.

For android and iOS users:

1. Find to the file you want to access
2. Next to the folder name, click on the arrow (android) or three dots (iOS)
3. Choose ‘Make available offline’

Dropbox will not sync your folders automatically as the app is working in the background. When you open the offline tab, Dropbox starts syncing the folders to make sure it is up to date. This process usually happens when you have a stable connection, so it is best to sync your folders when you are connected to wifi. Dropbox will not sync the folder using your phone’s cellular data by default. However, you can turn on this option in the settings.

Even though making folders available offline requires a paid dropbox account, making individual files available offline is free of charge yet quite useful. Anyone with a dropbox account can use it to check their files on the go. So next time you are stuck somewhere with no internet service, just grab your phone and read the ebook you have on your Dropbox drive or take a look at your latest work documents.