How to enable Dropbox integration into the file manager on your Chromebook

Well, we didn't do it of course, but Chrome developer Yoichiro Tanaka has found a way to integrate all of your Dropbox into the file manager app on your Chromebook. Or Chromebox. Or that crazy thing that runs Chrome OS from LG that I secretly want.

The good news is that it works very well, even at version one. The great news is that it's super-easy to install and use. We like easy. You like easy. Have a look and see just how easy it is.

ALL THE FILES

Getting File System for Dropbox (the proper name of the Chrome app that makes the magic happen) installed on your Chromebook (or any Chrome OS device) is as simple as installing it from the Chrome Store.

Fire up your Chromebook and go to the app's page in the store here: File System for Dropbox. You install it like any other Chrome app or extension, but this one only works on devices running Chrome OS proper. That's fine, because you don't need it on Windows, Mac or Linux. They have Dropbox clients direct from Dropbox.

Once you have it installed, open your app panel and find the icon. Give it a click. You'll see a small pop-over window that tells you to Mount your Dropbox, with a handy blue hyperlink that lets you do just that. Click it.

You'll go through the authorization process, where you log in to Dropbox and give permission for the app to access your files (the app doesn't keep your login once it's authorized), and you're done. You'll now have a Dropbox entry in the side menu of the Chrome file manager, and clicking it opens links to all the files and folders you have stored in your Dropbox cloud. You can act upon them the same as you would any other file, and you can even upload files and folders to your Dropbox cloud.

Best of all? The app is completely open-source and you can browse the code at Tanaka's GitHub.

This should make it easier for folks who want the ease-of-use a Chromebook offers but need access to all their gigabytes of Dropbox files.

Jerry Hildenbrand
Senior Editor — Google Ecosystem

Jerry is an amateur woodworker and struggling shade tree mechanic. There's nothing he can't take apart, but many things he can't reassemble. You'll find him writing and speaking his loud opinion on Android Central and occasionally on Twitter.