How to Sync Product Images from Dropbox to VNDLY in 2026
Learn how to connect Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive to VNDLY and auto-match product images to SKUs. No manual uploads needed.
If you've ever spent an afternoon uploading product photos one by one, you already know the pain. A hundred SKUs. Three angles each. Rename, resize, upload, repeat. By the time you're done, someone has already sent you new photos to add.
VNDLY's cloud storage sync fixes this. Connect your Dropbox, Google Drive, or OneDrive folder, name your image files to match your SKUs, and hit one button. VNDLY does the rest.
This guide walks through the entire setup — from connecting your account to troubleshooting files that won't match.
What You'll Need Before You Start
You don't need much. A VNDLY account (any plan), a cloud storage account with one of the three supported providers, and product images saved as JPG or PNG files.
The one thing that matters: your image filenames need to match your VNDLY SKUs. If your SKU is BC-BTL-32-BLK, your image should be named BC-BTL-32-BLK.jpg. VNDLY also supports numbered variants like BC-BTL-32-BLK_01.jpg for multiple images per product.
⚡ Pro Tip: Folder Structure
You don't need a complex folder hierarchy. A single flat folder works perfectly. VNDLY reads all image files in the folder you select and matches them by filename — subfolders are ignored during matching.
Step 1: Open Cloud Storage Settings
Log into VNDLY and go to Settings → Cloud Storage. You'll see three provider cards: Dropbox, Google Drive, and OneDrive. Pick the one where your product images live.
Click Connect on your chosen provider. VNDLY opens an OAuth authorization window. Sign in to your cloud storage account and grant VNDLY permission to read files. This is read-only access — VNDLY never deletes, moves, or modifies your original files.
After authorization, VNDLY redirects you back to the Cloud Storage page with a "Connected" badge next to your provider.
Step 2: Pick Your Image Folder
A connected account isn't enough. You need to tell VNDLY which folder contains your product images.
Click Pick Folder next to your connected account. VNDLY loads the folder tree from your cloud storage. Navigate to the folder where your product images are stored. Click Use This Folder to confirm.
If you later reorganize your cloud storage, you can click Change Folder anytime to point VNDLY somewhere else.
Step 3: Name Your Files to Match SKUs
This is the step that trips people up. VNDLY matches images to products by comparing the filename (without extension) to your product SKUs.
Here is what works:
| Filename | Matches SKU | Result |
|---|---|---|
| BC-BTL-32-BLK.jpg | BC-BTL-32-BLK | ✅ Matched |
| BC-BTL-32-BLK_01.jpg | BC-BTL-32-BLK | ✅ Matched (variant image) |
| BC-BTL-32-BLK_02.jpg | BC-BTL-32-BLK | ✅ Matched (variant image) |
| bottle-black-32oz.jpg | (no matching SKU) | ❌ Unmatched |
| IMG_4821.jpg | (no matching SKU) | ❌ Unmatched |
The matching is case-insensitive, so bc-btl-32-blk.jpg will match BC-BTL-32-BLK. But the base name must match your SKU exactly — no extra words, no spaces, no dashes that aren't in the SKU.
The Catch
If you change a SKU in VNDLY after images are synced, the link breaks. The image stays in VNDLY's storage, but it's no longer tied to the product. Re-sync after SKU changes to rebuild the connections.
Step 4: Run Your First Sync
With your folder selected and files named correctly, click Sync Now. VNDLY scans every image file in the folder, compares filenames to your product catalog, and links matches.
The sync result dialog shows three numbers:
- Matched — images successfully linked to products
- Unmatched — files that didn't correspond to any SKU in your catalog
- Skipped — files that were already synced and haven't changed
A sync typically takes a few seconds for a few hundred images. For thousands of images, it may take a minute or two depending on cloud storage API response times.
Step 5: Check Your Products
Open any product in VNDLY that should have an image. The synced image appears in the product detail page and in the product list thumbnail. If you synced multiple variant images (the _01, _02 pattern), they all appear in the product's image gallery.
Images sync to all locations where the product is stocked. You don't need to sync per location.
See how VNDLY handles this. Free 14-day trial, no credit card.
Try VNDLY free →What Happens When You Add New Images
Cloud storage sync is not automatic — you control when it runs. When your photographer drops 20 new product shots into the Dropbox folder, go to Settings → Cloud Storage and click Sync Now again. VNDLY only processes new or changed files, so subsequent syncs are fast.
There's no schedule or polling. You decide when to sync. Most teams run a sync after a product shoot or after receiving a supplier's image batch.
Supported File Types and Limits
VNDLY accepts JPG and PNG files. GIFs and WebP files are skipped during sync. There's no hard file size limit, but images over 10 MB will be compressed during processing. For best results, use images between 500 KB and 5 MB.
VNDLY stores a copy of matched images in its own CDN. If you disconnect your cloud storage account later, the images already synced to products remain visible. You only lose the ability to run new syncs.
Troubleshooting Unmatched Files
If your sync shows unmatched files, check these common causes:
The SKU doesn't exist yet. VNDLY only matches to products already in your catalog. If you uploaded images for products you haven't created, add the products first, then re-sync.
The filename has extra characters. BC-BTL-32-BLK-copy.jpg won't match because -copy isn't part of the SKU. The filename (minus extension and _NN suffix) must equal the SKU exactly.
The SKU has spaces or special characters. If your SKU is BC BTL 32 BLK, your image needs to be BC BTL 32 BLK.jpg — spaces and all. Most teams avoid spaces in SKUs for exactly this reason.
The file is in a subfolder. VNDLY reads the folder you selected, not nested subfolders. Move images to the top-level folder or change your selected folder.
Connecting Multiple Providers
You can connect all three providers simultaneously if you have images scattered across services. Each connection has its own folder and sync button. VNDLY deduplicates by SKU, so the same product won't get duplicate images from different sources.
To disconnect a provider, click the trash icon next to the connection. This removes the link but does not delete already-synced images from your products.
From the Founder
At my product company, our photographer would dump hundreds of images into a shared Dropbox folder every season. Then someone — usually me on a Sunday — would download them, rename them, resize them, and upload them one by one into our inventory system. It was maybe three hours of work, every single time. I built cloud storage sync so no one has to do that again. The SKU-matching approach means you don't need a spreadsheet mapping file names to products. Just name the file what you already call the product. That's it.
Related Features and Next Steps
Once your images are synced, you might want to connect VNDLY to your ecommerce platform. Product images flow through to Shopify and WooCommerce integrations, so the same photos show up in your online store without a second upload.
If you're managing a large catalog, read our guide on how to manage inventory across multiple warehouses — images sync to all locations automatically, but stock levels are location-specific.
For teams with complex pricing, the wholesale price list setup guide shows how to attach customer-specific pricing to the same products now sporting fresh images.
Start a 14-day free trial of VNDLY — no credit card required.