7 Cool Things You Can Do With Dropbox

What Can Dropbox Do For You?

Dropbox is a free web-based service that enables file storage, sharing and syncing. You can think of it as an extra hard drive in the cloud, or a convenient way to keep files synchronized across your desktop, laptop, tablet, or smartphone. You can share files with family, friends or work mates. Dropbox is also handy for sharing large files that are too big to be sent by email.

But those are just the obvious things mere mortals can do with Dropbox. There are several clever uses for Dropbox that may save you time or money, and possibly turn you into a wizard.

Here are some things you can do with Dropbox that made me slap my forehead and say "Wow!" the first time I came across them. You may want to don protective headgear before proceeding...

1. Choosing Favorites -- Designating a file stored in your Dropbox as a “favorite” downloads a copy to your device(s), so you can read, watch, or listen to favorites even when Internet access is unavailable. Might come in handy for ebooks, music, videos, or work-related documents.

2. Documents Folder on Steroids -- Using your Dropbox folder as your default My Documents folder means never leaving important work behind when you rush to the airport. Changing the physical location of My Documents requires some simple commands in Terminal for Mac OS or a minor tweak to the Properties of My Documents in Windows.

For Mac OS, open Terminal (under Utilities) and type “cd Dropbox” then press Enter. Next, type “ln –s ~/Documents /Documents” and hit Enter once again.

For Windows, Click the Start button and then click your user name. Locate and right-click the My Documents folder. Click Properties, then Location, then Move. Select your Dropbox folder.

3. Just Email Me -- Emailing files as attachments is an alternative way to get them to your Dropbox. Just sign up for a free account at SendToDropbox.com and get a custom email address for that service. Every file attachment your email to that address will instantly appear in your “Attachments” folder on Dropbox. You can also automatically forward file attachments sent to Gmail addresses to your SendToDropbox.com email address.

4. A Drop in the Bucket -- On a related note, URLDroplet takes a file directly from a URL (web address) and adds it to your Dropbox. You don’t have to download the file and then upload it to Dropbox; just copy the file’s URL into the URLDroplet.com input box, or use the bookmarklet.

5. Back it Up! -- Entire Web sites that you control can be backed up to Dropbox automatically. The Wordpress Backup to Dropbox plugin is one easy way to ensure that your Web content is safely backed up constantly.

6. Instant Webmaster -- Dropbox can even “host” a simple Web site for you. You don’t need to buy a domain name or learn HTML. Using services like DropPages or Pancake.io you can create and share portfolios of files stored on your Dropbox account, or automatically display the ever-changing contents of a Dropbox folder.

7. Cover Your Tracks -- Mozilla Firefox Portable Edition is the Firefox browser bundled with the Launcher app created by PortableApps.com. Download the Firefox Portable kit and install it, designating your Dropbox or another cloud service folder as the installation location. Then you can use Firefox from any computer and all your custom settings, bookmarks, etc., will be available. But when you finish a session and move on, no traces of your online activity are left behind.

Dropbox encourages app developers and third-party service providers to develop neat new services that incorporate Dropbox’s capabilities. There are many more examples than these. Do you use Dropbox in a way others may not have thought of? Post your comment or question below...