Why Can't I Share a Folder in Dropbox?

Unable to share a folder in Dropbox or facing an error? This article will help you out with why can’t I share a folder in Dropbox.

In some instances, we can’t find an icon share or we may face an error while sharing the folder in Dropbox.

Not sharing our files and folders on Dropbox can disrupt our flow and kill our productivity. Basically, we can’t use one of the main functionalities of the platform.

Even though I have faced the issue, after several research I have come up with a solution. So, let’s check how to troubleshoot this issue.

Why am I unable to share a folder or join a shared folder?
I don’t see the shared folder options window.
What happens when a “Request access” page appears?
You do not have a Dropbox account or are not logged in.
People are unable to accept my invitation to my shared folder.
Common sharing mistakes and how to avoid them
Fix Dropbox sharing issues

Table of Contents

Why am I Unable to Share a Folder or Join a Shared Folder?

There are some situations when people are unable to join or access a shared folder. Check each and every practical situation in this article to fix the issue you are facing while sharing files or folders in Dropbox.

In a Shared Folder, I Can’t See the Most Recent Versions of Files.

We cannot see the latest version of the share option in Dropbox, check the below steps to solve the issue.

You removed a shared folder from your account

If we remove or delete it from our account, we cannot access the folder next time. To check the deleted folder from Dropbox, go through the below steps.

Sign in to the Dropbox application.
Click the Shared option on the left side of the home page of Dropbox.
Select the Folders tab on the top and select the file or folder you want to share or download or Add to Dropbox.

If we install the Dropbox application on the PC, the shared folder will automatically be synced again. We can also rename the file or folder to avoid confusion.

2. Files from a shared folder are missing though we did not delete them

We didn’t delete the files in the Dropbox but still folders or files missing to share then that is unintentionally or unknowingly we might have deleted the folder from the Dropbox. Follow the above method to check the files or folders in Dropbox.

Check if your files are in the shared folder on dropbox.com if the shared folder is active. You can recover your files if they go missing.

I Don’t See the Shared Folder Options Window

Sometimes unable to see the shared folder window option when we try to click Share. We may be facing this issue due to third-party extensions or add-ons.

To solve this problem, disable any browser extensions or add-on temporarily that is running behind. Once changed the shared folder settings and there is no need for a shared folder options window, we can re-enable these browser extensions.

What Happens When a “Request access” Page Appears?

If we are seeing the Request Access page, the person we are sharing the folder with sent the invitation to our account that we don’t use on regular basis. Or they may have sent the invitation to the wrong person.

When a file or folder is shared, it is shared with a specific Dropbox account. The content is only accessible to the account owner.

Click Request Access. We can view the shared content once the sender approves our request.
We can log in to the account that the sharer originally invited us to.

If We Do Not Have a Dropbox Account or Are Not Logged In.

We will be asked to sign in or create an account whenever we try to access the shared content. We have to create a new Dropbox account if not already, to access the shared file or folder.

Sign in and create a Dropbox account to see the shared content of Dropbox.
If we don’t want to sign up for the account, ask the sharing person to send a shared link.

People are Unable to Accept my Invitation to my Shared Folder

Each and every shared folder member needs to have much space in their account to accept the invite to a shared folder. Because accepting an invitation to join a folder means adding it to your account, shared folders require space in each account.

If we are having trouble sharing a folder, it’s possible that the people we share with don’t have enough space to accept the invite. If we having trouble joining a shared folder that someone has invited us to, it’s possible that the folder is larger than the remaining available space on our account.

For example, if we have a 2GB Dropbox account, but 1 GB only left space at that time if our friend shares a file that is more than 3 GB, we won’t able to accept their invite. We will either have to buy more space or earn or ask the concerned person to reduce the size of the file.

Is it Possible to Share a Folder Without Consuming Dropbox Space?

We can send a link to the folder If we want to share a folder without taking up the recipient’s space. When you share a link to a folder, people can view, comment on, and download read-only copies of the files contained within.

Is it Possible to Remove a Shared folder?

Yes, we can remove a shared folder from our account. This removes only the folder from the Dropbox account. The rest of the members of the folders will still have access.

Is it Possible to Share Dropbox Storage Space with Others?

Yes if we want to share space between multiple users check this link Advantages and Disadvantages of DropBox (You will ever need) to know more about the plans you want to purchase.

Common Sharing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

When we try to share not only share option is missed sometimes we will get errors also. Will see the type of below errors and fix the thing.

Error – 1 “There are an excessive number of files”

We face errors when we tried to share or unshare a folder that contains a large number of files. This error only affects the creation of a shared folder and won’t affect future invitations to the folder. If you want to know how to create a folder in Dropbox follow this link and get clarity.

Error – 2 “You sent out far too many invitations”

We sent out a lot of invitations in a short period of time. To prevent abuse, there is a daily limit on how many shared folder invitations we can send. Wait for 24 hours to send a second invitation if you cross the limit.

Error -3 “Sharing was a failure”

We tried to share folders or files with someone but at that particular moment, we can’t. This can be because of two main reasons which are said below.

The invitees are members of a Dropbox Business team that does not allow members to accept invites from outside the team.
If you’re on a team that doesn’t allow you to invite non-team members team.
If we are using Dropbox business team, we can ask the admin to change our team settings.

Error-4 “You do not have the authorization to carry out this action”

We might have seen error 404 or not found or we do not have authorization kind of message. This can happen if,

The owner of the folder you were attempting to share does not permit editors to collaborate with other members.
The file or folder is only visible to you. You cannot invite other members to this file or folder in these cases.
Make a request to the owner of the file or folder to make you an editor. If you’re already an editor, request that the setting that allows editors to invite people to be changed.

Error-5 “The specified file could not be found”

The file we tried to share will not available in Dropbox anymore. This can happen if the particular file is removed or deleted from Dropbox. For this, we can Restore the file.

Fix Dropbox Sharing Issues

In today’s work-from-home world cloud file storage and sharing are more popular. People collaborate with the teams for projects on common files. The best thing is to store it in a shared location so everybody on the team can access it. Dropbox satisfies this need and uploads the files to the cloud then share them with partners and clients.

Quick Checks

Ensure the file we want to share is available in the Dropbox account. Maybe we itself or anyone accidentally deleted it.
If we are not owners of the particular file or folder but still trying to share, the owner will prevent us from doing so.
Check if there is a file or sub-folder within that folder that is already shared. If there’s a thing like that, this indicates the folder is already shared. Try to unshare the sub-folder and then share the parent folder directly.

How Many Dropbox Shared Folder Invites Can Send in a Single Day?

The average Dropbox user can send about 30 shared folder invites every day. But this number will vary a lot. The daily sharing limit depends upon a combination of many variables that as the number of shared links and shared folders.

Check the Left Space Amount

If we are trying to share a folder and also running out of space at that time we will receive an email notification. Collaborators can’t accept our shared folder invite if they are running out of space.

Delete unnecessary files and make sure we have enough storage space to accept a shared folder invite.

Summing Up

We come to the end of this article. I have covered everything related to why can’t I share a folder in Dropbox for related errors while sharing the folders?

I hope this article will help you out finding the errors in sharing the Dropbox folder.

Make sure you have enough space and check your sharing permissions. Ensure that you are trying to share a folder that is not already shared in Dropbox.