Popular cloud-storage and file-sharing service Dropbox announced earlier this year that it’d be ending its Public Folder option. These special folders allow Dropbox users to link directly to a file, without having to use a special URL generated by creating a sharable Dropbox link. The advantage of storing files in a Dropbox Public Folder is that users could easily link to those files thru third-party apps and services. But it’s likely that this function was misused by Dropbox users in ways that the service never really intended.
In a recent e-mail blast, Dropbox reminded its users that the Public Folder option will be terminated on September 1st:
This is a reminder that your Public folder links will become inactive on September 1. On that date, your Public folder will become a standard Dropbox folder, and your files will remain safe in your account. If you want to share those files again, you’ll need to use shared links instead.
The Public folder was the first sharing method we introduced, and since then, we’ve built more sophisticated ways for you to share securely and work together with your team. In addition to shared links, we have a number of sharing options designed to make collaboration easier and give you more control.
In the e-mail, Dropbox acknowledged that this change will be inconvenient for some users. Dropbox has created a support page to help users switch from sharing via the Public Folder to the standard method of sharing files thru Dropbox.