Discontinuing Dropbox Vault: the PIN-protected folder turned ordinary
Announced January 2025 (converted to a normal folder 4 March 2025)
Dropbox discontinued Dropbox Vault, the PIN-protected folder for sensitive files, on 4 March 2025 — automatically converting every Vault into an ordinary, un-PIN'd Dropbox folder.
What happened
Dropbox Vault was marketed as a secure place for users' most sensitive documents — passports, tax records, financial files — behind a separate six-digit PIN. It was offered as a security perk of paid plans and pitched as 'an added layer of protection.'
In January 2025 Dropbox announced that Vault would be discontinued on 4 March 2025. On that date, every user's Vault was automatically converted into a standard Dropbox folder, with the PIN requirement removed and the files left in place. Dropbox said it was discontinuing Vault to 'concentrate efforts on further improving existing security features and building new capabilities around advanced data protection.'
The announcement drew significant backlash on Dropbox's own forums. Beyond the loss of a feature users had relied on, the automatic conversion raised a pointed question: if Dropbox could silently move 'protected' files out of the Vault and strip the PIN without any user action, how meaningful had that protection ever been? Critics framed it as another example of Dropbox removing a feature with thin justification.
Impact
The Vault shutdown landed especially hard because it removed a security feature, not just a convenience — and the automatic, PIN-less conversion exposed that the Vault's protection was a UI gate rather than independent encryption. It fed the broader narrative of Dropbox quietly retiring consumer-facing features and undercut trust in Dropbox's security marketing at the same time it was winding down Dropbox Passwords.