General-use software that works via the cloud is starting to reach maturity with regard to its flexibility and connections with other services. DropBox is one of the most popular systems for online storage, and the official client from Microsoft Office Mobile for iOS and Android, after being made free, is also now becoming one of the standards for editing documents from smartphones or tablets. This makes it even more interesting that both services have now been integrated, such that you can now edit text documents, spreadsheets, and presentations found on your cloud account without having to download them to work remotely. Here we explain how.
- Obviously, you need to have each of the official apps installed and be logged in to both. When you install the Microsoft Office app, it will ask for your account details and recommend that you use the same account that you have preset for other Microsoft services.
- From Office, access the tab with the folder icon and click on ‘Add a place.’ When you choose DropBox you’ll automatically jump to the DropBox page, where you’ll see the accounts you’ve associated with the service. When you add your details they’ll automatically be associated with each service.
- The integration goes both ways, meaning you can create a document in Office and upload it directly to DropBox or go into your shared folders and from there select the uploaded file that you want to edit.
- We’re going to test both features. From Office, click on the Create Document icon and select a blank Word document where you can type whatever you like. Open the drop-down menu, click ‘Save as…’ and select DropBox as your destination in the ‘Save to…’ field.
- Now we’re going to edit the document that we’ve just uploaded directly from its cloud location. Close Office and go to the DropBox app. Search for the document where you saved it and view it by clicking. If you click on the third icon, the one with a pencil and paper, the possible editing options for that document format will appear. If you’ve done the steps properly, Office Mobile should show up as an alternative. When you select it the Office app will open again with that file ready for editing.
