How to leave Dropbox

From dropbox.com, download your folders (right-click → Download), or use the desktop app to pause sync and copy the local Dropbox folder elsewhere. For large accounts, export in batches — browser ZIP downloads cap out and can fail silently on very large folders. Verify file counts and that nothing is left 'online-only' (Smart Sync) and therefore not actually downloaded.

Files aren't the whole picture. Export Dropbox Paper docs, note any shared-link URLs others rely on, list the third-party apps connected under Settings → Connected apps, and save Dropbox Sign documents/templates separately (Sign data lives in a different product). Capture version history for anything where past revisions matter — most alternatives won't import Dropbox's history.

Choose an alternative that fits your priorities (see the comparison). For a like-for-like folder-sync replacement with stronger privacy, zero-knowledge options such as Proton Drive or Sync.com keep the keys in your hands; Google Drive, OneDrive, or iCloud trade that for ecosystem and free space. Install the new client, let it finish the initial upload, and confirm files open correctly before deleting anything.

Update or replace any public Dropbox links you've shared, reconnect collaborators on the new platform, and re-authorize any apps or automations that pulled from Dropbox. Set a calendar reminder for anything seasonal (e.g. annual document shares) that might still point at Dropbox.

Cancel the subscription FIRST (Settings → Plan) so it stops auto-renewing, and check the renewal date before it comes around. In most cases Dropbox payments aren't refundable — the exception is if you live in the EU, UK, or Turkey, where you can get a refund by cancelling a Plus, Family, Professional, or Essentials plan within 14 days of purchase. Once you've verified your export is complete and nothing depends on Dropbox, delete the account (Settings → delete account). Keep your exported copy backed up independently. How Dropbox refunds actually work.

Select a file or folder on dropbox.com and click Download. A folder downloads as a .zip and only works if it's smaller than 250 GB (uncompressed) and contains fewer than 10,000 total files — files in nested folders still count toward that 10,000-file limit. Individual files have no size limit, but Dropbox recommends the desktop app over the browser for large ones. See Dropbox's download-limits help page.

If your account is too big for a browser download, install the Dropbox desktop app, let it fully sync your files to a local folder, then copy that folder to an external drive or your new storage before you cancel. This avoids the 250 GB / 10,000-file zip limit entirely.

Paper docs don't come out in a folder download. Open a doc, use its menu's Export option, and choose .docx (Microsoft Word), .md (Markdown), or .pdf. If your account is still on the old Paper release, you can also bulk-export every doc you created at once, in .docx or .md only — the current release only supports exporting one doc at a time. See Dropbox's Paper export help page.

Dropbox Sign and DocSend documents live in separate products with their own data and export tools. This guide doesn't cover their export steps — check each product's own help center before you rely on this page for them.