Dropbox integration with Google Docs, Sheets, & Slides is changing

In an email sent out early Sunday morning, Dropbox revealed that its native Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides integration is coming to an end, with files being replaced by shortcuts. Anyone with Google Workspace files in their Dropbox accounts will have to migrate their files to Google Drive within 30 days of receiving notice, or they will be automatically converted to Microsoft Office files.

Since 2018, Dropbox users have had the ability to create, edit, and share Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files without ever leaving the site. A special partnership with Google Cloud has enabled Dropbox to host their own editors for Docs, Sheets, and Slides, which allow users to forgo Google Drive completely.

Five years later, this partnership is changing, with Dropbox pointing users toward either Google Drive — where files will be replaced in Dropbox with shortcuts — or Microsoft Office to maintain access to their files.

Dropbox users who have utilized this Google functionality in the past should look out for an email with the subject line “[Action Required] Migrating your Google files,” which details the migration process.

According to the email, “Google files in Dropbox will be replaced with shortcuts to documents in Google Drive,” so long as users connect their Google and Dropbox accounts in the next 30 days. “This change will ensure you maintain access to your Google files, they remain organized with the rest of your Dropbox content, and you can use the most up-to-date Google features,” Dropbox wrote.

If 30 days pass and you have not connected your Google Drive to Dropbox, all Google Workspace files in your Dropbox (.gdoc, .gsheet, and .gslides) will be automatically converted to their Microsoft Office counterparts (.docx, .xlsx, and .pptx). This will preserve certain advanced sharing settings, such as password protection, that are not immediately available upon migration to Google Drive. Note that you can convert Microsoft Office files back to Google format at any time by uploading them to Google Drive, though some document formatting may be lost or altered.

Similar integrations exist between Google Workspace and other cloud storage providers, such as Box, that work the same way. It’s unclear at this time whether these partnerships will also be dissolved, or if Dropbox is the one deciding to abandon its native Google Docs functionality. Affected users can learn more about migrating their files here.

Update: This post has been updated to reflect that some form of Google-Dropbox integration will remain after this migration.