Syncing a Dropbox Folder to SharePoint

Natively cloud storage platforms don’t communicate between them, however, there are times when this is required, such you have part of your organization in a country that does not allow Dropbox, or you have two separate organizations sharing a project together

Syncing folders between clouds with Couchdrop

Using a solution such as Couchdrop can bridge this gap and provide the ability to automate the one directional syncing of two locations between two disparate platforms, whether it’s SFTP → SharePoint, Dropbox → Google Drive, Windows File System → S3 or another combination. It keeps it simple and as a SaaS platform, it manages the infrastructure and security for you.

In this case, syncing a Dropbox folder to SharePoint is as easy as mounting the two platforms and configuring a scheduled automation to sync files across at a scheduled time daily, or down to a few minutes. See below how to configure this.

Step 1 - Create a Couchdrop account

First, you'll need to create a Couchdrop account if you haven't already. You can also set up a Couchdrop Trial to test one out, it's free for 14 days and doesn't require a credit card. 

Step 2 - Connect and mount Dropbox

Once you're logged into couchdrop, click Add Storage Integration. 

From here select Dropbox (or Dropbox Business) and authenticate using OAuth.

Step 3 — Mount SharePoint

After connecting Dropbox to Couchdrop, it’s now a case of mounting SharePoint. Similar to Dropbox you can navigate to your Storage Dashboard and Add Storage Integration and select SharePoint from the grid.

Step 4 - Configure Automation (sync)

Once both platforms are successfully connected, click the Transfer Automation icon, the two interchanging arrows. This feature lets you automate file transfers based on a set schedule. 

For the directory to monitor, choose the Dropbox folder you want to be synced to SharePoint.

Since this is a one-way sync, simply use the Copy File action. For the Destination, choose the SharePoint directory. 

Step 5 - Testing

After confirming the source and destination, follow the wizard until you are returned to the automation dashboard. From here you can run a test or you can enable the workflow to start running automatically as configured. Before testing the automation, make sure to enable it so that it will function as expected. 

Dropbox folder is now synced to SharePoint

 The Dropbox folder is now synced to SharePoint! Files will now be copied from Dropbox into the SharePoint file at the timeframe configured in the automation. You can update this timeframe and the specifics of the automation at any time. 

Want to try making this and other automations for yourself? Try Couchdrop free for 14 days. There's no credit card required and you don't have to go through a product demo or other hoops if you don't want to. Simply sign up and go to get started.