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Personal account to Business account - All files gone

This will be a long post as I've never experienced any thing like this:

1.) I have had my personal Dropbox account for so many years and been paying the PRO-subscription for couple of years. It's all sorted out, some files offline, some online and I was using 1.2-1.4TB of 2.1-2.2TB available space.

2.) I also have a work email and that email is part of a team-Dropbox (business dropbox). I sometime use it to access work related stuff but I don't use it often

3.) My boss was trying to share some folder which would require 24/7 real time sync between us two (he is the admin account for my work-team-business Dropbox plan) but since I don't have my work Dropbox offline-synced I wanted to use my personal account or that BUT he couldn't share the folder with me because Dropbox said that email wasn't part of his Dropbox-Team.

4.) My boss deleted/removed my work email from the work Dropbox and added my personal account to his Dropbox-business/team account and paid about 10-15$ for it. Then things started to go south.

5.) I get this email saying I have to either A) Merge my personal dropbox to the work/business Dropbox or Keep them separate.

6.) I ofc choose separate but then Dropbox asks me to set the app up again on my computer and to choose a new place for me offline-Dropbox folder.

7.) I can't remember all of the things that happened but my files were gone, I had nothing in my personal account anymore, 1.2TB of data was gone. All of my pictures of my children and memories from the past years. So I panic and tell my boss to remove me BUT do it in the right way and convert my account back to a personal account like your website says it should be done.

8.) He does that and I can sign into my personal account again (removed per the Community's Guidelines) but still everything is gone and I have nothing in there. It says my data plan is 2GB a month.. I used to have 2.1TB a month!

9.) He then tried to add my old work email back to the team ) just to see what happens and I do that and all of a sudden I see all my personal files in the Dropbox.com website when logged in via my work email !!!

10.) Now I have two Dropbox folders on my computer a) Dropbox (Personal) and b) Amenic ehf. Dropbox (the name of the company I work for) and in there is a folder named ''Fannar Freyr'' (my name) with all my old stuff (1.2TB) but I have to be logged into my work email (removed per the Community's Guidelines) to see it

So I'm absolutely gutted and devastated. My account is gone. It's a total total mess and I'm so angry and frustrated

How can I revert everything back to like things were? I just want my personal Dropbox account to be exactly like it was 2 hours ago. I want all my stuff inside THAT account, not linked with my workplace-Dropbox account.

Please help me

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Walter

Hi there @fannafreyr, sorry to hear about this.

It sounds like you were onboarded to the team with the wrong email address and Dropbox account, thus resulting in what you described.

If your team's admin has already converted your account back to an individual one, you should have all the files you had prior to joining the team. If you can't find them, you can ask your team admin for further information.

If you on the other hand just need help with swapping your email addresses between your accounts, please let us know.

Thanks!

fannafreyr

Thanks for taking the time @Walter to reply to me. I really appreciate it.

As things stand today my personal account [removed per Community Guidelines] is gone, it's been reverted back to a basic account with only 2GB and no files in that account. This was my main account for years and I would like to have it like it used to be. My admin says he reverted the account yesterday back into a personal account but I still haven't got my folders and files.

But when I log onto my work email/Dropbox [removed per Community Guidelines] I see a folder called ''Fannar ...'' (my name) with all of the stuff in from the original Dropbox account [removed per Community Guidelines]

Screenshot 2023-10-20 at 10.18.31.jpg

So how can I reverse this? How can I remove all my original files being linked with this work/business Dropbox account [removed per Community Guidelines] and get them back to my original account like it has been for years [removed per Community Guidelines]. It's so confusing and I've been googling for hours but can't seem to find any instructions or help. Could you list for me in baby steps what to do to make my original account [removed per Community Guidelines] back to being my main account? Can't you just restore my personal account? And why has it been reverted back to a basic account? I had a PRO subscription for years but now when I log into my account and go to settings it's like it's a brand new account with no history of anything. I can't even see the bills for each month I previously paid for the PRO subscription. And I can't use my username on this forum (fannar182) because Dropbox said it had been taken. Please help me get my original account back.

fannafreyr

I just talked to my admin and he sent me these screenshots from his admin view:

This is a conformation that my personal account [removed per Community Guidelines] was removed from the business Dropbox plan yesterday and converted to a free account.

Screenshot 2023-10-20 at 10.48.12.jpg

Here is a conformation that my old personal Dropbox [removed per Community Guidelines] now lives under this [removed per Community Guidelines] work/business/team thing within the company I work for. It has all my files/folders, all my data usage and all the referral extra data I had. I want it all back onto my original Dropbox account, my personal account. How do I do that?

Screenshot 2023-10-20 at 10.48.08.jpg

How can I get my Dropbox back? And also take into consideration that I had a lot of offline files also which I don't want to lose. I want to have all my Dropbox again like it was yesterday before we started to mess with it.

Could you with some Dropbox/admin powers take this newly created [removed per Community Guidelines] dropbox user and remove it from this business/teams link (amenic ehf. is the company) and make it again my personal account, [removed per Community Guidelines]

Nancy

Hi from me as well, @fannafreyr!

First off, please keep in mind that this is a public forum and you can’t post any form of personal info, as it goes against our Community Guidelines.

As per your admin’s email, is it possible that it’s about your Business account being removed from the team the first time, and being converted to a personal one instead?

From the rest of the things you mentioned (your personal account having 0 files, and looking like new), I understand that your team admin deleted your personal Dropbox account (instead of converting it to a personal one again), and you have now created a brand new one in its place, and re-upgraded it.

In any case, what you can do is to share a folder from your Business account with your personal Dropbox, and add all of your personal files within that folder. After that, please go to your personal Dropbox account, accept the shared folder, and move these files to any other location you want.

You can then delete the shared folder you created from your Business account.

Hope that helps resolve the issue!

fannafreyr

Thanks @Nancy for taking the time to respond to me. I was on a family vacation so I couldn't reach back until now. I'm still ''in this mess'' with my Dropbox account but I feel a lot 'safer' now because I managed to download ALL of my personal files to a offline-hard drive. So now I'm not worried about losing any data since I spent 2 days downloading everything (2.3TB) from Dropbox to my hard-drive.

So now I really would like to apply your solution to my situation. Like I said my personal Dropbox account that was accidentally moved and merged with my company's Dropbox has around 2.3TB of data. When I share the folder from my Business account with my personal Dropbox.. Don't I need to re-download all the files back again so my 'new' Dropbox recognises that it has downloaded those files and has it in its system? I want to have all my Dropbox on a hard-drive where I can always access the files (not cloud syncing) so don't I have to download all the files back again? If that's the case is there any way I can do a 'trick' because I already have all those files offline on a hard drive, the same hard drive I wan't to use as my Dropbox hard-drive.

So this is what the plan looks like me but I still don't get it quite:

1.) On my Business account I have ALL my files in a folder called ''Fannar Freyr''.
2.) I need to share that folder with my Personal account. How do I do that? When I right click the folder I don't get any options to share that folder. Where do I share it and how?

Screenshot 2023-11-09 at 15.48.20.png

As you can see Dropbox doesn't give me any chance of sharing that folder with a another person. So I'm stuck here.

So let's say get a way to share the folder with my personal account, then what?
Can you take me step by step what to do then?
I assume it would go like:
3.) Accept that share-folder invitation and click ''add to my Dropbox'
But what happens then? I would be forced then to re-download 2TB from my Hard Drive-A back to Hard Drive-A because I have the same hard drive selected as the place for my business folder and personal folder. That seems like a weird solution.

How can I say to my personal Dropbox account hat I own access to all the files in my business account, then point my personal account onto the folder where all the files are (in my business account folder) and tell it ''Hey there are all the data, read them and confirm and when you're done you will see that we don't have to download anything''

Jay

Hi @fannafreyr, you can't share the entire personal folder with your name, but I just want to clarify something.

Are you able to see both your personal and your work Dropbox folders on your machine under separate sections? A screenshot of this for me to confirm would be great.

fannafreyr

Hi @Jay

I don't really understand your question. Here are some screenshots:

Screenshot 2023-11-16 at 21.58.57edit.jpg
As you can see I'm signed into the business account with my work email and in the Dropbox drop-menu I can also sign into my 'new' personal account (switch between accounts)

Screenshot 2023-11-16 at 22.00.10.png

On my Mac I can also see two Dropbox folders, Amenic ehf (Business dropbox from my work) and Dropbox personal (my new personal account).

I hope you are understanding what I mean with my questions. I have only one external hard-drive for my Dropbox (12TB) and now both my business Dropbox that took over my old personal Dropbox account is there with a folder and my newly created account with no data in it. How can I move all the data (2TB) from my agressive business account that took over my personal account onto my new personal account WITHOUT having to re-download anything?

''How can I say to my personal Dropbox account hat I own access to all the files in my business account, then point my personal account onto the folder where all the files are (in my business account folder) and tell it ''Hey there are all the data, read them and confirm and when you're done you will see that we don't have to download anything''''

Hannah

Hey @fannafreyr, allow me to pitch in as well.

While you can't share the actual (parent) folder with your name on it, you should be able to share the contents, so each of the folders inside.

Keep in mind, though, that these are two different Dropbox folders from different Dropbox accounts at this point.

So, sharing the files from one account to the other, will populate them in the personal account/Dropbox folder as well and there's no way to tell the app now that these are the same folder, it would be too complicated.

However, you can delete the files and free up the space in the Business account afterwards, once the files are shared with the personal one.

playzoffs

Thanks for taking the time @Walter to reply to me. I really appreciate it.

fannafreyr

Thanks for the reply @Hannah

So would you have me go to every folder/file in the business Dropbox file (my former personal Dropbox account) and click each and every one and share there to my new personal account? I must have 200-300 folders in there. Is there not any easier way to do this?

And by this message ''So, sharing the files from one account to the other, will populate them in the personal account/Dropbox folder as well and there's no way to tell the app now that these are the same folder, it would be too complicated.'' you are basically telling me that I have to re-download the 2TB to my new personal Dropbox folder? Even though it's on the same hard drive as the business Dropbox folder? I can't just copy the content from the business one, paste into my personal account Dropbox folder (on the same hard drive), then share all the folders from my business Dropbox to my personal and then my personal Dropbox already has all the items/data in it's folder and it doesn't have to download them?

Walter

Hey @fannafreyr - sorry to jump in here, but I just wanted to mention that you have 2 options at this time.

The first would be to simply copy or drag and drop the content from the Business folder into your personal Dropbox account, but this will require the files to sync to the account online and be re-uploaded to the new personal account.

The second would be to ask the admin of the Business team account to remove your from the team while making sure that they convert your account back to an individual one and then invite you to join the team with another account/email address. This will require a reindex to update the account from the removal from the team, but you won't have to sit through the re-uploading process.

Let us know if you need any further assistance.

rideintothesun

Hi Walter, I need help. I accidentally created a personal account by logging in via Google using my work email. Would that prevent my company's team admin from sending me an invite to join the team account? Would you have to convert my personal account to a team account? I couldn't find any help content about this. Thank you in advance.

Megan

Hi @rideintothesun, let's jump right into this!

If you created a personal account, then they shouldn't be having an issue inviting you to join their Business team.

You might need to choose to either join the Business team using this account, or create a new one, but that's up to you entirely.

If you have any questions, let me know!

flaxzune

Thanks for taking the time