UPDATED 01:41 EDT / APRIL 12 2016

NEWS

How to share Dropbox files directly in Facebook Messenger

Dropbox, Inc. on Monday announced that users of its Dropbox mobile apps can now share files — photos, videos, GIFs, and documents — directly inside the Facebook Messenger app of from the Dropbox app.

This makes Dropbox the first file sharing service to integrate with Messenger and the latest in a growing list of third-party apps and services Facebook has added to its popular messaging app. Last month Facebook added Lyft Inc. and Spotify Ltd. integration to Messenger to allow users to hail a Lyft and share their favorite music — all without leaving the app.

What you need to share Dropbox files from Messenger

The new sharing functionality is available in the latest iOS and Android versions of the Dropbox and Facebook Messenger apps. Download Dropbox for iOS or Dropbox for Android if you do not already have it installed and update your Messenger app.

How to share a Dropbox file from Messenger

Facebook Messenger Dropbox

Share Dropbox videos, photos, GIFs, more directly in Messenger, via Facebook

Inside a conversation, tap the More button (three dots) and select Dropbox from the list of available source apps. Provided you are logged into Dropbox on your smartphone, you will be able to browse for a photo, video, GIF or any other file to share. If not, you will be prompted to sign in to your Dropbox account first.

If you did not install the Dropbox mobile app as per above, you can do so now by tapping on Install next to Dropbox under the Get Apps for Messenger section. This will take you to your app store to install the app. Once the install is finished, sign in to Dropbox and go back to Messenger to start sharing.

Videos, images, and GIFs are displayed — and can be opened — directly in Messenger chats. All other files, like PDFs, spreadsheets, etc. — will be shared as a link to the Dropbox file. Tapping Open will take the recipient to their Dropbox mobile app to preview and save the shared file.

You can also share files to Messenger directly from the Dropbox mobile app. Simply select the file to share and tap the Share menu, select Messenger and select the Contact or Group to share with.

Dropbox integration for Messenger started rolling out on Monday and will be broadly available “soon”, according to Facebook.

Facebook is set to announce more new features for Messenger at the company’s annual F8 developer conference later today, including support for bots like those found in other apps such as Slack, Kik, WeChat, Skype, and others.

Main image credit: Kārlis Dambrāns, Flickr

A message from John Furrier, co-founder of SiliconANGLE:

Your vote of support is important to us and it helps us keep the content FREE.

One click below supports our mission to provide free, deep, and relevant content.  

Join our community on YouTube

Join the community that includes more than 15,000 #CubeAlumni experts, including Amazon.com CEO Andy Jassy, Dell Technologies founder and CEO Michael Dell, Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, and many more luminaries and experts.

“TheCUBE is an important partner to the industry. You guys really are a part of our events and we really appreciate you coming and I know people appreciate the content you create as well” – Andy Jassy

THANK YOU