Dropbox → O365 compare report
Dropbox against Microsoft 365
The report you run after a Dropbox import, when somebody asks whether all of it actually arrived. It lists a Dropbox folder and the destination folder side by side and exports what is missing, what is there, and what is on SharePoint outside the compared Dropbox scope.
What it tells you
- Which Dropbox files have no counterpart in the destination folder.
- How many arrived, as a count against the number of files in the Dropbox scope.
- Which files match by filename and relative path, regardless of size.
- What is sitting in the destination folder outside the compared Dropbox scope.
How it runs
- Sign in to Dropbox. The same read-only sign-in the import uses.
- Sign in to Microsoft 365. The tenant holding the destination library.
- Pick both sides. The Dropbox folder on the left, the library and folder on the right.
- Run the report. Files are matched by filename and relative path. History and Reports use the same comparison, covering the chosen source folder and its subfolders.
- Open the workbook. It is written automatically to ShareMaster's reports folder and Report History, with no save prompt. Summary first, then Missing, then each side in full.
How it works
The whole Dropbox folder you chose is compared, with all of its subfolders; individual ticks inside it are not used. The folder is listed in full and each file is turned into the path it would have in SharePoint exactly as the import does it, including replacing characters SharePoint cannot store and giving exported Dropbox Paper and cloud documents their exported names. Files that cannot be exported are left out, and folders are not compared.
Each expected path is then looked up on the destination directly, ignoring case. A file that is there is a match. A file that is not there is Missing. A lookup that fails for any other reason is Could not check, never Missing, and those rows appear on the Missing sheet too. Sizes are read but never compared.
Separately, the destination folder is listed, and each file in it is marked as inside or outside the compared Dropbox scope. If that listing fails, the report still completes and notes that the SharePoint side may be incomplete. The workbook is written straight into ShareMaster's own reports folder and recorded in History; there is no save prompt.
What you get
An Excel workbook, named like dropbox-compare-20260901-142207-318.xlsx, kept in Report History whether or not you save it. Files are matched by filename and relative path. The Missing sheet lists Verdict, Source path and Destination path; sizes are not compared.
Summary sheet
Label and value pairs: the two scopes, when it ran, how it matched, and the counts on each side.
Missing sheet
What the workbook is opened for: everything in Dropbox with nothing to match on the destination, and every file that could not be checked.
| Column | Example |
|---|---|
| Verdict | Missing |
| Source path | /Finance/2024/Audit/ledger.xlsx |
| Destination path | /sites/Finance/Shared Documents/Finance/2024/Audit/ledger.xlsx |
Dropbox side sheet
Every file in the Dropbox scope with its verdict, not just the failures.
SharePoint side sheet
The files under the chosen destination folder and its subfolders, and whether each is inside the compared Dropbox scope.
| Column | Example |
|---|---|
| Destination URL | /sites/Finance/Shared Documents/Finance/notes.docx |
| In compared Dropbox scope | No - outside compared Dropbox scope |
What you need
- Read access to both: a Dropbox account that can see the folder, and a Microsoft 365 account that can read the library.
What it will not do
- File sizes may change slightly after import because SharePoint can update embedded document metadata. Size differences alone do not establish corruption, so sizes are not used for comparison or to select files for Differential.
- The report checks filename and path presence. It does not read file contents or compare hashes, and cannot prove that every size difference is metadata-only.
- Differential copies missing files only and skips existing paths. Use Incremental for source changes; date-based replacement options can protect recent SharePoint edits.
- Empty folders are not compared. The report is about files.
- It compares what you point it at. Pick the same Dropbox scope the import used, or the missing list will be a list of files you never asked for.
- It reports. It does not copy anything, and it changes nothing on either side.