Have you ever counted how much time you spend on repetitive tasks on Dropbox, such as sorting files or backing up data? If this takes even just up to 30 minutes a day, the total amount of wasted time could be more than 120 hours per year! That’s around 15 working days that you could and should spend in a more efficient and pleasant way. All you need is to set up some Dropbox automation. You can automate many things, from naming
files to converting them into different formats. Read on to learn how you can do this to save your time in the future. The fundamental automation function in Dropbox is the synchronization of files between Dropbox desktop and cloud apps. You have it by default and can choose whether to sync all or specific folders. Beyond this, Dropbox offers multiple options to set up the so-called automated
folder, including the definition of rules to rename files and conversion of files to PDFs. All of this is available out-of-the-box. At the same time, you can expand your automation capabilities using third-party apps. For example, Coupler.io allows you to schedule data sync between Dropbox and Google Drive, and with IFTTT, you can automate saving your Instagram photos to Dropbox. We’ll introduce many more options below. Let’s start with how you can automate Dropbox without any
third-party apps. These include automatic backup and automated folder. You can automate the creation of backup copies of a few folders from your device to Dropbox. For this, you need to install the Dropbox desktop app and complete the following steps: The Backups tab in the Dropbox desktop app also contains an option to automate the backup of your camera photos and videos to Dropbox. You can also choose the import of
photos and videos. As a result, Dropbox will automatically backup files from any camera you connect to your device. But we usually take photos on our smartphones so it’s better to implement the automatic backup for them. To do this, install the Dropbox app on your phone and configure it as follows:
In the end, all the photos from your camera will be backed up to a newly created Camera Uploads folder on your Dropbox. Automated folderAnother option to automate Dropbox that we want to look at is called the automated folder. Its idea is that you can set up different automations in the folders within Dropbox:
Let’s check out each of those. Select a folder, click More and select Add automation. Select the option you want to implement and click Next. Choose a category to sort files byFiles added to this Dropbox folder will be automatically organized into folders grouped by the period (month or year) they were added. Set a rule that renames filesFiles added to this Dropbox folder will be automatically renamed to match one or all the rules you select:
Convert files to PDFsSelect the types of files that will be saved as PDFs when added to this Dropbox folder. Choose an image format to convert files toSelect the types of files that will be saved as PNG or JPG when added to this Dropbox folder. Unzip filesSelect the types of archived files that will be unzipped when added to this Dropbox folder. All these Dropbox automate options are meant to give you peace of mind about many repetitive actions. However, you can do even more with the help of third-party applications. Automation in Dropbox with third-party toolsDifferent apps allow you to significantly expand the automation of your Dropbox by integrating it with other apps. You can set up trigger-based automated workflows meaning that one action triggers another. Or you can schedule workflows meaning that a certain action is carried out at a specified frequency. Here is a list of the most interesting Dropbox automate tools and what you can do with them:
In addition to these, you can check out other automation tools, including Nintex, Ziflow, K2, and so on. How good is Dropbox Automator?It’s most likely that you’ll encounter the name Dropbox Automator when searching for a tool for Dropbox workflows automation. This was a very actionable solution by WAPPWOLF to automate specific actions in Dropbox. However, Dropbox Automator is no longer available. Here is their latest tweet dated Apr 10, 2018. Although Dropbox Automator is obsolete, you can still benefit from other solutions like the following one. Example of how to automate Dropbox copying data to Google SheetsLet’s check out an example of automating a data flow from Dropbox to Google Sheets on a schedule. Its benefit is that you can synchronize data between two spreadsheet files: CSV or Excel on Dropbox and Google Sheets on Google Drive. We’ll use Coupler.io to do the job. Sign up to Coupler.io with your Google or Microsoft account. Click +Add new importer and select the apps to integrate:
Click Proceed, name your importer, and complete these steps:
Here is what it may look like:In addition to Google Sheets, you can synchronize your files on Dropbox to Excel Online and even BigQuery! That’s only one example, whereas you can set up various other automated workflows using either Coupler.io or other apps. FAQ on Dropbox automationThe best way to wrap up our Dropbox automate story is to give answers to the most common questions users ask. How to automate file organization in Dropbox?The Automated Folder feature in Dropbox allows you to group files in folders by month or year of when the files were added. To do this, follow these steps:
In the end, here is the result of the automatically organized files: Can I automate creating folders in Dropbox?The automated file organization feature described above actually allows you to automate Dropbox folder creation. It creates child folders for the groups of files added to the parent folder. These child folders will be named according to the month or year the files were added. Can Dropbox be used to automate file transfer?The Dropbox Transfer feature only allows you to manually send files within the limits of your subscription plan. There is no option to automate it either natively or using a third-party solution since there is no API available for it. Back to Blog Focus on your business goals while we take care of your data!Try Coupler.io What cloud application offers a variety of cloud services including automation and CRM cloud application development and website marketing?Salesforce is the leader in cloud computing, offering applications for all aspects of your business, including CRM, sales, ERP, customer service, marketing automation, business analytics, mobile application building, and much more.
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