Dropbox Passwords, Vault, Backup Try To Make Working From Home Easier

The global situation has proven that some of the work your bosses insisted couldn't be done at home can, when circumstances force it, actually be done at home. That doesn't mean, however, that your home, especially your home computer and network, are ideal places to do some professional activity, especially those that require some data security and privacy. As a tool that was designed for remote collaboration, Dropbox is now launching new products to address the growing number of people working from the comfort of their couches or even their beds.

People are always advised to use password managers but different people have different interpretations of that. Some people's concept of a password manager is a file that lists all those passwords that they then store on Dropbox. Others do have password managers but then decide to sync those password managers on Dropbox, too. Since it's already being used in that capacity, Dropbox decided to just provide its own password manager, simply called Dropbox Passwords, and cut out the middle man.

Working at home also means you don't have access to whatever secure network and shared storage the company may offer. It's easy enough to share files through Dropbox but while Dropbox itself already offers some level of encryption and security, Dropbox Vault is now being marketed as one step above that, a perfect place for sensitive documents protected by a six-digit PIN. You can even allow family, friends, or co-workers access to that Vault in an emergency while keeping the rest of your Dropbox account private.

Some people also use Dropbox to back up their computer files but that has mostly involved moving files into a folder that is synced with Dropbox. The new Dropbox computer backup lets you select your common Windows or macOS folders like Desktop, Documents, and Downloads to be automatically backed up to the cloud.

Dropbox's new features are targeted at people who have found themselves working from home more often, which explains why many of them, like Passwords and Vault, are available only for paid Dropbox subscribers. Computer backup is available on all tiers, though, but it is currently still in beta.