Collaborating with others on a project and need to share a document, presentation, or a folder with them? No problem; that’s where file sharing comes into play. What is file sharing? File sharing is when you transfer files from one computer to another, or when you share files with others via the internet or network. Your next question might be “What do I use to file share?” In this post we will be talking about two types of services that offer file sharing, Google Drive and Dropbox. The best part is they’re both secure! Google Drive and Dropbox both use Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) encryption, which is an industry standard security technology. It essentially is what establishes the encrypted link between the web server(s) you’re using and the web browser(s) you’re using.

Now that you know a little about what file sharing is, and a couple of services that offer it, you may be wondering where you can access these services and/or applications. Self-Service offers Google Drive File Stream and Dropbox Sync which are applications you can install on your Mac desktop that allows you to access all the files that are associated with the corresponding service. For example, Google Drive File Stream allows you to access all the files you have on your Google Drive. The second place you can access these services is through a web browser. Google Drive and Dropbox require the two most recent versions of any of the following: Chrome, Firefox, Internet Explorer 11, Microsoft Edge, and Safari. While other browsers that are not previously listed may work, they may not be able to use all of the features.

Before you can file share with these services, you need to make sure that the file you would like to share it uploaded to the service. When you begin sharing a file, there are some features you should be aware of. Starting with being able to share a file or folder by entering a name or email, or by using a shareable link. Another option that is available is permissions: permissions allows you to control what other people get to do to the file or folder. They can either only view, they can view and comment, or you can allow them to edit the file or folder you shared with them. That sums up the features associated with file sharing. There is one feature that comes with the desktop applications (Google Drive File Stream & Dropbox Sync) that is worth noting, both applications allow you to access the file(s) or folder(s) offline. With File Stream you need to mark the file(s) or folder(s) as “Available offline”, but with Dropbox Sync all of your files and folders automatically sync so that they are available offline.

If you want to know how to access these services or download these applications, along with a step-by-step process of how to file share using these services and applications come to my upcoming presentation on “File Sharing” this Wednesday at 1:30PM in SAS 4201.