If you wish to make files on your computer accessible on other computers, whether it be another of your own computers, or a family member’s computer on the other side of the world, you can easily do this using Dropbox.
When you share a Dropbox folder with someone, the contents of that folder will be available to them, as well as any new files you may add later on. If your folder contains a file such as an Excel list, every time you make changes to that list, the copy of that file on all the computers you have shared it with will update, meaning that everyone always has the latest version of your files.
To get started, go to www.Dropbox.com and enter your name, email address and a password of your choice in the form on the main page, then click the “Sign up for Free” button. After a few seconds, a file should start to download automatically.
Once the file has finished downloading, go to your Downloads folder and double click the file to run it. Dropbox can take several minutes to install. Once it is installed, it will ask you to log into the program using the email address and password you set up in step 1.
Once you have successfully logged in, your Dropbox folder will open. In some cases you may receive an email asking you to verify your account. Check your inbox now for that email. The Dropbox folder is easily accessed by selecting it from the Favourites section on the left hand panel.
If you set up Dropbox on another computer and sign in with this same account, you will be able to access anything you put into this folder on both computers. You can also share just the contents of a specific folder with others. To do that, create a folder inside your Dropbox folder by right clicking inside the folder, then selecting “New” and then “Folder”.
Right click the folder and select “Share this Folder”. In the “Email or Name” box, type in the email addresses of the people you would like to share the folder with, adding a message if you wish, and then click “Invite”. Once they accept your invitation, anything you save into that specific folder will be accessible by them, and visa-versa.
To share a single file with multiple people, save it into your Dropbox folder and then right click it and select “Share Dropbox Link”. A link will be copied to your clipboard which you can paste into an email or document to share it with whoever you want. By clicking that link, they will be able to download a copy of the file. ExtraTip: A copy of your files is stored online which means you can access them from anywhere in the world, even when you don’t have your own computer with you. Simply log into www.dropbox.com with your username and password and a list of your folders and files will open. Find the document you want, and then simply click the file name to open it. If you are downloading files on a pubic computer at an airport, for example, make sure you sign out of your Dropbox account, and that any files you may have downloaded are deleted from the downloads folder as well as the recycle bin to avoid others from accessing your information.
