Skip to main content

Dropbox partners with Microsoft for closer integration with its cloud Office apps

Microsoft has inked a partnership deal with Dropbox that will bring improved integration between the two services.

Recommended Videos

The move means Dropbox users will soon be able to access their Dropbox files directly from Office apps, and edit Office files from the Dropbox app.

The deal, announced by Dropbox’s Ilya Fushman in a blog post on Tuesday, means users will also be able to easily share Dropbox links from Office, so once you’re done editing a particular document, you’ll be able to quickly share it with friends or colleagues by firing off a link.

“Dropbox is home to over 35 billion Office documents, spreadsheets, and presentations,” Fushman said in the post. “That’s why we’re partnering with Microsoft to help you do more on your phones, tablets, and the Web.”

Speaking to The Verge about the partnership, Kirk Koenigsbauer, head of Microsoft’s Office Engineering team, said that access to Dropbox content “popped as one of the very first [Office for iPad] requests that customers had.”

Koenigsbauer added, “They want access to where their content is. We’re doing it to make sure customers have a great experience.”

Dropbox is set to appear together with Microsoft’s OneDrive cloud storage option in the Office for iPad app, allowing Dropbox users to work on Office documents from within the app.

The new feature is free for all of Dropbox’s basic and pro users, though its business customers will require an Office 365 subscription. Hop over to Dropbox’s business blog here to find out more. The changes will land for Dropbox users on iOS and Android in the coming weeks.

At some point next year the features will also come to the Web “by adding integrations between the Dropbox website and Office Online,” Fushman said, adding as a side note that the startup will also be launching a Dropbox app for Windows Phone and Windows tablet users in the coming months.

Trevor Mogg
Contributing Editor
Not so many moons ago, Trevor moved from one tea-loving island nation that drives on the left (Britain) to another (Japan)…
Microsoft OneDrive vs. Dropbox: Which is the better deal?
dropbox on a pc computer.

Dropbox and OneDrive are two of the most popular cloud storage services available on the market today. They go toe-to-toe in many areas; however, they have enough differences to make them appealing to different consumers.

Dropbox has integration with several creative and communication-based third-party services, including Adobe Premiere Rush, WeVideo, Otter.ai, Simon Says, DaVinci Resolve, LumaFusion, and Sprout Social. The service is more favorable for creatives and artists, who may be using their cloud storage to save video, images, and music, and can benefit from access to tools that can aid their expression.

Read more
What is Microsoft 365? Here’s the cloud software suite, explained
Microsoft Office free apps.

Microsoft 365 is the brand’s suite of cloud-based productivity apps that can be used for word processing, group collaboration, data analysis, presentation development, storage, and email. Many may be familiar with Microsoft Teams, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and OneDrive as separate applications at one point; however, many high-performance users may utilize more than one of these programs for work, hobbies, or their everyday lives.

This could serve as a reason to consider Microsoft 365, to get more comprehensive access to the brand’s app library. Here is a look at what you need to know about the Microsoft 365 productivity suite.
Microsoft 365 paid subscriptions 

Read more
Google Drive vs. Dropbox: which is best in 2024?
Google Drive in Chrome on a MacBook.

Google Drive and Dropbox are two of the most popular cloud storage providers, if not some of the best. They offer a range of exciting features, from secure file storage and transfer, to free storage, file syncing, extensions, chat-app integration, and more. But while they might go toe to toe on some cloud storage specifications, there are others where one is the clear winner. The question is, which one is the best in 2024?

Let's take a close look at Google Drive and Dropbox to see how their latest head to head turns out.
Google Drive wins the free storage battle
Both Dropbox and Google Drive offer free storage space for those who would like to try out their respective services before putting down a few dollars a month for something more expansive and permanent. Google Drive comes standard, with 15GB of free space, far more than Dropbox's initial free storage offering of just 2GB.

Read more