Dropbox Synchronisation

Link your Dropbox account, find your projects in Dropbox, let changes sync both ways, force a sync and unlink.

Keep all your projects in sync with a folder in your Dropbox. Changes go both ways in the background, with one exception: what you type in the editor reaches Dropbox a few minutes after you leave the project, or when you click sync this project now.

If you see no Dropbox option in Account settings or in the editor, ask your administrator to turn on Dropbox Synchronisation.

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Link your Dropbox account

You do this once.

1. Open your account settings

   Click Account, then Account settings. Under Project synchronisation, find Dropbox and click Link.

   

   Dropbox in the account settings

2. Authorize on Dropbox

   Dropbox opens. Sign in if you are asked to, then authorize the application.

3. Check the link

   You are back in the account settings. A green message says your Dropbox account is linked, and the button now says Unlink. Under Dropbox, a status shows that your projects are being sent.

   

   Your Dropbox account is linked

   The status changes to Overleaf and Dropbox have processed all updates when they are all there.

   

   Everything is in sync

If your account is not linked yet, the Dropbox card in the editor asks you to link it first. Click Update Dropbox Settings: the account settings open in a new tab. Link your account there, then refresh the editor page, as the dialog tells you to.

The prompt when your account is not linked

If you do not allow access on Dropbox, you come back to the account settings without a message, and the button still says Link.

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If you have projects with the same name

You cannot link while two of your projects share a name. The message names them. Archived and trashed projects count too.

Two projects with the same name

Rename one of them and click Link again.

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Find your projects in Dropbox

Each of your projects is a folder in Apps/<app name>/ in your Dropbox, with all its files. Your administrator chose the app name. Every project is synced, also the ones you create later: you cannot pick some of them.

To see the folder of a project, open the project. In the left bar, click Integrations, then Dropbox.

The Integrations panel

The dialog names the folder, and links to it on Dropbox.

The folder of this project

A new project named like one you already have gets a numbered folder, such as Field notes (1). The dialog shows which one is its folder.

A numbered folder

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Changes you make in Overleaf

You do not need to click anything.

• New files, renames, moves and deletions reach Dropbox right away. A new folder appears there with its first file.
• Renaming a project renames its folder.
• Edits you type in the editor do not reach Dropbox while the project is open, and clicking Recompile does not send them. They go about three minutes after everyone has left the project. To send them earlier, see Force a sync.
• Deleting a project leaves its folder in Dropbox. Delete the folder yourself if you no longer need it.

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Changes you make in Dropbox

You do not need to click anything here either. Dropbox tells Overleaf about the change, and it usually shows up within seconds, also in an open editor, without reloading.

• New files, edits, renames and deletions in a project folder are applied to the project. So are new folders.
• A new folder at the top of the app folder becomes a new project.
• Files Overleaf does not sync, such as .DS_Store or .aux files, stay in Dropbox only.

The history of the project marks these changes (via Dropbox).

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If the file is open in the editor

The file changes in front of you, and a dialog tells you so. Click OK.

A file you have open changed in Dropbox

The Dropbox version replaces what you typed and had not sent yet. Your text is not lost: it stays in the project’s history.

The replaced text in the history

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Rename or delete a project folder

Rename a project in Overleaf, not in Dropbox. To Overleaf, a folder renamed in Dropbox is a deleted folder and a new one: you get a new project with the new name, and the old project stays.

When you delete a project folder in Dropbox, the project stays in your project list, with its files and history. The next time you open it, a dialog tells you once. Click OK.

The folder of this project is gone from Dropbox

The project keeps syncing. To put all of it back in Dropbox, click sync this project now.

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While a project is archived or in the trash

Changes you make in its folder in Dropbox are not applied, and restoring the project does not bring them in. Overleaf then stops sending the files you changed, so the two sides differ. Save such a file once more in Dropbox: the Dropbox version replaces the one in Overleaf.

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Force a sync

Each project has its own link. Use it when you want your edits in Dropbox now, without leaving the project.

1. Open the sync dialog

   Open the project. In the left bar, click Integrations, then Dropbox.

2. Click sync this project now

   The link is at the end of Changes not appearing in Dropbox?

3. Check the result

   A blue message says a manual sync has started, and the status shows Sending and receiving updates. It changes back to Overleaf and Dropbox have processed all updates when the sync is done.

   

   A manual sync is running

The link sends the whole project to Dropbox, including the edits still in the editor. It also reads the changes waiting in Dropbox, for all your projects. If your site cannot receive notifications from Dropbox, changes from Dropbox only come in this way.

You can do this once per minute for each project. Sooner than that, a red message asks you to wait.

Wait a minute before the next one

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Unlink your Dropbox account

1. Click Unlink

   In Account settings, under Dropbox, click Unlink.

2. Confirm

   Click Unlink in the dialog.

   

   Unlink your account

3. Check the result

   The button says Link again, and the Dropbox card in the editor says your account is not linked. Nothing syncs any more in either direction. Your projects and the folders in Dropbox keep their files.

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Link again later

Click Link. Your projects are sent to Dropbox again:

• Each file replaces the one with the same name in Dropbox. What you changed in those files in Dropbox while unlinked is overwritten, so move such changes to the project first.
• A file that exists only in Dropbox stays there, and comes into the project when you next change it.
• A project you renamed while unlinked gets a new folder. The old folder stays.

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If Overleaf unlinks your account

Overleaf unlinks your account when Dropbox no longer accepts the link. The project list says why, until you link again.

Your account was unlinked

For the reasons, see the Q&A of Dropbox Synchronisation.

For what collaborators get in a shared project, see How syncing works.