To make a long story short:
Due to financial things, I don't have Dropbox premium, and can't renew it, I can't get Google Drive, OneDrive, iCloud, and Dropbox is very insistent in my moving files out. (I have about 100GB I need to move, back up, and what not.) I do not have the space to do so on the Mac I have, but I do on my phone.
Does anybody know of any way I can transfer the files to my phone? Can I email 100GB of stuff to myself, or something?
I've tried messing with iTunes on the Mac, installed it, but can't find the app to transfer stuff this way. Additionally, I tried linking myself to a folder, to download things that way, but Dropbox suspended my link sharing (even to myself...)
Any tips? Help figuring out iTunes, or something?
By UnboundDara, 11 July, 2026
Forum
iOS and iPadOS
Comments
Dropbox integration in iOS Files app
Are you familiar with the Files app on your iPhone?
If the Dropbox app is installed on your iPhone and you're signed in, Dropbox is integrated into the Files app and should appear as one of the "Locations" besides "On my phone". Then you can select files and folders and copy them from Dropbox to your phone.
100 GB seems like a lot of data to copy, and downloading all of it may take several days. It might be a good idea to copy reasonably sized folders instead of everything at once. While you copy a folder, make sure your phone is connected to power and screen auto-lock is turned off so that the copy process won't be interrupted.
USB flash storage?
Or maybe it's an option for you to get a 128 GB USB flash drive. If you think of copying files from Dropbox to a flash drive, I'd recommend doing so via the Dropbox app on your Mac.
Since, as you mention, your Mac is short on storage space, make sure the Dropbox app is configured to keep files "online only" and not "available offline". (The Dropbox sync setting can be found on the MacOS menu bar > Dropbox > Preferences > Sync > Default sync preference > online-only).
Re: Dropbox integration in iOS Files app
While I do not use dropbox, I do use OneDrive. I use the Files app integration with OneDrive to transfer files between iOS and oneDrive for iOS, then I can access those files on Windows. You should not have any problems doing this, though as the poster above said, it may take a little time. 🙂
Try the Dropbox app running on your PC
I do not have the paid plan either. I use the Dropbox app runningn on my PC. then all of your Dropbox files show up as a mounted drive on your PC and then you can copy them anywhere. You can also delete files from Dropbox on your mounted drive this way. Very seamless.
--Pete
peter
Same, have the free version and on my windows PC. I copy files there and make sure I refresh and they show up in my iPhone and iPad. Had dropbox since it was free. Will not pay for it.
No folder transfer on iPhone free Dropbox
It would require one file download at a time if you installed the Dropbox app on your iPhone. Dropbox seems to always garble compressed files like zip for me. Probably because it is compressing things too.
However, as you asked, you can email yourself files, or compress folders into zip files, but always check the zip files on the other end because email can also sometimes garble them. You couldn't do the full 100gb at one time, but whatever size limit your email allows. You might experiment with it and figure out what you can do.
Putting some or all of it on a memory stick or drive of some sort is also a good idea.
You could start making yourself some wiggle room on the Mac by moving some of the files to wherever with whatever method, double checking that they are truly copied and readable, then removing them from the Mac.
Re "No folder transfer on iPhone free Dropbox"
In my experience, it's possible to copy entire folders:
When you select a Dropbox folder in the Files app, the Move button is blanked out. However, if you long-press the folder, a context menu comes up where the Move button is available. That way, you can copy whole folders from Dropbox to local storage on your iPhone. (At least that's how it works on iOS 18. I haven't updated to 26 yet.)
Email is feasible for a few files at a time, but you may soon reach the usage limits set by your email provider. Taking the free version of Gmail as an example, each message is limited to 25 MB and you can send up to 500 emails within 24 hours.
(I've removed my estimate how long it would take, as it was embarrassingly wrong by a factor of 1000 ...)
That's good to know. @teele
I would have never known to do that, but Dropbox has had some weird ways of doing things.
That would probably work for the OP for a bit larger chunks of the problem. I don't use a Mac, so I don't know if there is a direct way to copy files from the Mac to the phone.
Bulk answers.
So, let's address things.
I appreciate the info about integration of Dropbox with the files app. I knew it was available, however, didn't know I could just "download now."
Next: Other services are not an option. I have filled a Google Drive with other stuff (and fear Google will riot about it...) This is on its free tier, by the way.
Due to financial things, as said, I can't get a subscription, however, my need now is to find a way to transfer from the Mac, possibly with iTunes, or something.
The files are still visible through the Dropbox app on the Mac (where I primarily use a VM to use Windows.) But, on the phone, most files were deleted, so a lot of folders I tried to add to the phone showed as having 0 files.
Any help (through Windows) to access, and use iTunes to transfer everything?
About external storage
Facing the same issue as reapplying a subscription, I do not have any kind of external storage (flash/hard drive, or SD card.)
Transfer files from Mac or PC to iPhone
Have you tried AirDrop to copy files between your Mac and iPhone?
Another option is to share a folder on your Mac and connect to the shared folder from your iPhone. Below I've added links to the relevant support articles from Apple.
If you get stuck at some point, please let us know (in which case it would help to know the MacOS and iOS versions running on your devices).
Option 1
Copy files using AirDrop: Use AirDrop to send items to nearby Apple devices
Option 2
Share a folder on the Mac and connect to the shared folder from the iPhone. Here's how:
First, share one or more folders on your Mac as described here: Set up file sharing on Mac
Then connect to a shared folder from the Files app your iPhone: Transfer files from iPhone to a storage device, a server, or the cloud. In this article, go to the section "Connect to a computer or file server"
It's also possible to set up a shared folder on a Windows VM and connect to it from your iPhone.