Dropbox Icons and Symbols Meaning (Mobile/Desktop) - Guide

Dropbox shows a number of different icons and symbols to denote the current status of your files and folders. This guide will break down the meaning of icons and symbols on Dropbox on mobile and desktop apps, explaining what they mean with regards to your file/folder’s status. We will also cover other icons and symbols that you may encounter while using Dropbox.

Table of Contents

Mobile Home Screen Icons Meaning

When you land on the Dropbox mobile app’s “Home” screen, you’ll spot these key icons at the top and bottom:

Notification (Bell) Icon: Tap to view your latest Dropbox notifications. The number in a red circle shows how many notifications are unread.
Camera Uploads (Camera) Icon: Opens camera uploads.
Upload Details (Up arrow with a line) Icon: See the progress of your current uploads.
Image Menu (Three dots in a circle) Icon: Access various options related to the specific image.
Number in Red Circle Icon: Indicates a notification on the “Home” tab, with the number showing the count.
Add Menu (Plus in blue circle) Icon: Options for uploading files and photos, scanning documents, creating folders, and more.
Folder Menu (Three dots) Icon: Reveals actions you can take with the specific folder.

Mobile Files Section Icons Meaning

When you navigate to the “Files” section in the Dropbox mobile app, you’ll find these icons at the top:

Upload Details (Up arrow with a line) Icon: Shows the progress of your current file uploads.
Select Items (Tick in box) Icon: Allows you to select multiple files or folders.
Sort (Down Arrow) Icon: Sort your files and folders by different criteria.
Change View (Three horizontal lines) Icon: Switch between different ways to view your files, such as list or grid.

Image View Icons Meaning

When you open an image within the Dropbox mobile app, you’ll find these icons:

Info (“i” inside circle) Icon: View detailed information about the image.
Starred (Star) Icon: Mark the image as a favorite (starred). You’ll also see this star on starred images in the “Photos” tab.
Edit (Pencil) Icon: Open options to edit the image.
Comments (Chat Bubble) Icon: Access or view comments associated with the image.
Delete (Dustbin) Icon: Tap to delete the image.
Link (Paper Clip) Icon: Create a shareable link for the image.

Comments Section Icons Meaning

When you’re in the Comments section of a file or folder in the Dropbox mobile app, you’ll see these icons:

Activity (Lightning/Zap) Icon: View file activity in other connected apps.
Gear Icon: Access settings to show or hide resolved comments.
Mention (“@”) Icon: Use this to mention and notify other collaborators by name or email.
Send (Up arrow) Icon: Tap to post your comment.

Account Tab Icons Meaning

When you navigate to the “Account” tab in the Dropbox mobile app, you’ll see these key icons:

Edit Profile (Pencil) Icon: Tap to edit your profile details. You will see the same blue color icon to add a profile picture.
Settings (Gear) Icon: Opens the main settings menu for your Dropbox account.
Devices (mobile and monitor) Icons: List of devices (like your phone and computer) connected to your account. A green dot indicates that the device is currently online.
Storage (Grey circle with blue bar) Icon: Visually represents how much of your Dropbox storage is currently being used.

Desktop Sync Icons Meaning

When you look at the files and folders within your local Dropbox folder on your computer, you’ll see these icons indicating their sync status:

Icon Name	For File	For Folder
Green circle with a white checkmark	File is synced and available offline.	Means all files in the folder are available offline.
Blue cloud icon	Your file is fully synced and only available online. It means that the file won’t take up space on your device. They will download to your device only when you open them.	Means there is at least one online-only file in the folder. So there can be files that are “available” and/or “available offline” in the folder.
Circle with a green border and a green checkmark	Means that a file was opened (directly or using a third-party app) and synced.	Means there is at least one file available inside the folder, but no online-only files. There maybe some offline files in the folder.
Blue curved arrows in circle shape	This means your file is currently being updated.	Same as for files.
Blue curved arrows in a circle shape	The file is not updating nor syncing.	Same as for files.
Gray circle with a white minus sign	Your file is being ignored – files are not uploading to the Dropbox server.	You will only see an ignored icon on the folder only and not on every individual file inside.
Gray “X” icon	This is not a Dropbox icon but a Windows icon. It indicates that your file or folder may not be syncing with Dropbox.	Same as for files.

Dropbox Desktop Taskbar Icons Meaning

The Dropbox icon in your Windows taskbar (or macOS menu bar) provides a quick visual indication of your sync status and notifications:

Icon	Icon Name	Meaning
	Black Dropbox Icon	Fully synced: All Dropbox files and folders on your desktop are up to date. Any changes you’ve made are reflected across all your devices and wherever you access Dropbox.
	Dropbox Icon with Curved arrows	Sync in progress: Indicates that Dropbox is currently updating your files and folders. Any changes you’ve made are being uploaded and synced across your Dropbox.
	Dropbox Icon with two vertical lines in black	Syncing paused: This means you have manually paused the syncing process. Any changes you make to your Dropbox files and folders on your computer will not be updated elsewhere until you resume syncing.
	Grey Dropbox Icon	Not connected to internet: This indicates that the Dropbox desktop app is currently not connected to the internet. As a result, any changes you make to your local Dropbox files and folders will not sync until an internet connection is re-established. This icon can also briefly appear when the Dropbox app is starting up or shutting down.
	Black Dropbox Icon with Cross Icon	An error has occurred: This signifies that there was an error with your Dropbox account during the synchronization process.
	Dropbox Icon with a number in red circle	Unread notifications: This indicates that you have unread notifications related to your Dropbox account. The number within the circle shows the number of unread notifications.
	Dropbox Icon with two “Z”	Snoozed notifications: This means that you have temporarily snoozed your Dropbox notifications. You won’t be notified of new notifications.
	Dropbox Icon with a camera	Camera uploads in progress: This icon appears when you have connected a camera or a mobile device with a camera to your computer, and your camera roll is currently being uploaded to your Dropbox account.

Dropbox File and Folder Icons, Symbols, and Colors Meanings

Dropbox uses different icons and symbols on files and folders to provide you with quick information about their type and sharing status:

Icon	Icon Name	Meaning
	Blue Folder Icon with a camera and up arrow	Pictures and videos are stored in this folder if you enable the camera uploads feature on your mobile.
	Blue Folder Icon	It is a regular Dropbox folder that is not shared with anyone. You can use them to store files and other folders.
	Blue Folder Icon with a reverse slash inside a circle	These folders are only available to Dropbox teams. While most folders inside team folders are shared with the whole team, restricted folders are only shared with certain team members.
	Blue Folder with two person icon	Folders shared with you or by you with others. On dropbox.com and the mobile app, the symbol has two people. On the desktop app, it has three people.
	Blue Folder Icon with a building icon	Team folders – are only available to Dropbox teams and are created by an admin.
	Blue Folder Icon with a person icon	It is a team member folder. These are only available to members of Dropbox teams with the team space folder structure.
	Blue Folder Icon with lock inside a shield	It is an encrypted team folder. Encrypted team folders are a type of folder that can only be accessed and decrypted by authorized users.
	Blue Folder Icon with a lock	It is a traversal rights folder. These folders are available to members of Dropbox teams and allow members partial access to specified items within the folder, but not to the entire folder and its contents.
	Blue Folder Icon with a puzzle	It is an API app folder. API app folders contain third-party extensions added to your account by an admin. These folders can’t be shared and can’t contain shared folders.
	Globe icon with an arrow to its left bottom side	It is a shortcut to a webpage. If there’s no other icon that can be used from the webpage, the file will have a globe icon on it.
	UFO icon	An unidentified file type. To make it identifiable to Dropbox, add the appropriate file extension. For example, if the file is a JPG, add “.jpg” to the filename.
	Gallery icon with a lock	It is a locked file. You can lock a file to keep others from editing it.

MacOS File Provider Sync Icons Meaning

When using Dropbox with the File Provider integration on macOS, you’ll see these icons next to your files and folders in Finder, indicating their sync status:

Icon Image	Icon Name	Status
	Green icon with check mark	Available offline: Means your file or folder is synced and readily accessible even without an internet connection. For folders, it also means that any new files added to the folder will automatically be set to be available offline. Note: Files and folders marked as “available offline” will remain so and won’t automatically revert to online-only based on your hard drive space.
	A cloud icon with a down arrow in the middle	Online-only: Indicates that your file or folder is synced but available only in the cloud until you open it. You’ll need an internet connection to open these files initially. They become temporarily available on your computer once opened. For folders, this icon signifies that at least one file within the folder is online-only. The folder might also contain other files that are “available” or “available offline.” Note: You don’t need an internet connection to browse the contents of an online-only folder.
	Green icon with check mark and a cloud icon with a down arrow in the middle	Available offline and online-only: This means that while the folder contains at least one online-only file, any new files added to this folder will be set to be available offline by default. This can also occur if an entire folder is set to “available offline,” and then individual files within it are changed to “online-only.”
	A cloud icon	Syncing: Means your file or folder is in the queue to be uploaded to the Dropbox servers, but hasn’t started yet. Once syncing begins, this icon will change to the circular progress indicator.
	A white circle with a black border and a black segment	Sync in progress: Shows that your file or folder is currently being synced.
	A cloud icon with an exclamation point inside	Sync error: Indicates that your file or folder encountered an issue and could not be updated or synced. If you’ve just tried adding it, it might mean it couldn’t be added to your Dropbox.
	A cloud icon with a diagonal line through it	Ignored file: Means your files aren’t stored on the Dropbox server. It resides in your local Dropbox folder on your Mac but doesn’t count towards your Dropbox storage.
	A cloud icon with dotted lines	Waiting to upload: Problem uploading your file, or Dropbox is currently waiting before starting the upload.
	No icon	Available: Means that it has been opened (either by double-clicking or through a third-party application) and is fully synced. For folders, the absence of an icon means there’s at least one “available” file inside, but no online-only files. The folder might also contain files that are available offline. Note: If your Mac is running low on hard drive space, these “available” files might automatically be converted to online-only to free up space.

And that wraps up the meaning of the key icons and symbols you’ll encounter in the Dropbox app across mobile and desktop. Check out our other guides for more app icon meanings below!

Dropbox Icons and Symbols Meaning (Mobile/Desktop) – Guide