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Files & Folders not-unlockable. Can't Delete. Not in the web view of my account.

I have a folder full of folders and files on my Mac in my Dropbox that are all locked, but when I Get Info on them, the "unlock" is greyed out. I can't unlock them, and so I can't delete them from my dropbox.

Weirder still is that when I view what's in my dropbox from the web, they're not there.
The web view shows my dropbox as empty.
They are also not items shared with me (in the shared list) that I can remove.
I checked that too, and the folder or the contents of the folder are not in the shared list.
But the folder icon shows multiple people, so it might have been shared with me at one time.

The files exist on my Mac, I can open them, copy them to someplace else, I just can't get rid of them.

I'd like to get rid of them.

FIles are not unlockable.

Screen Shot 2020-04-23 at 10.16.27 AM.png

They are locked.

Screen Shot 2020-04-23 at 10.15.57 AM.png

I can't delete them.

Screen Shot 2020-04-23 at 10.17.34 AM.png

And they don't exist.

Screen Shot 2020-04-23 at 10.18.22 AM.png

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Accepted answers

anthonybme

I solved it the brute force way- Terminal.
Which doesn't fix the underlying Dropbox issue.

Last login: Fri Apr 17 21:58:36 on console

Mac-mini:~ --$ sudo rm -r /Users/--/Dropbox/Music

Password:

override rw-r--r-- 502/staff uchg for /Users/--/Dropbox/Music

I post this as to be a help to others faced with the same issue that isn't solved with the Dropbox FAQ.

All comments

Lusil

Hey @anthonybme, thanks for reaching out to us and for the screenshots - they definitely give a better visual of what's happening.

It looks like the folder is locked by your OS, so you can try following these steps, and then deleting it.

Let me know how it goes - thanks!

anthonybme

Unfortunately, one has to have read/write permissions
to modify the permissions.

Since the files are locked from me,
I don't have permission
to change permissions.

Screen Shot 2020-04-23 at 6.23.25 PM.png

anthonybme

Even the page you linked to has this basic instruction:

Assign permissions to users and groups
On your Mac, select a disk, folder, or file, then choose File > Get Info.
If the information in Sharing & Permissions isn’t visible, click the disclosure triangle.
Click the lock icon to unlock it.

Please review the first part of the subject of this thread...
I can't unlock the items in my Dropbox.
That's the problem.
So a solution document that tells me to unlock the item so I can do something else,
is telling me to do - exactly what I cannot do.

anthonybme

Or how about this:
The Dropbox app doesn't match what Dropbox.com shows is in my folder.

I can't delete it.
Dropbox shows it, or maybe not.

I updated the folder name on my PC.
It's reflected properly in the web version.
The Dropbox app on my Mac, and the actual folders in the Finder not NOT reflect this change, 6 hours later.
Screen Shot 2020-04-23 at 11.34.22 PM.png

And right now it says it's syncing 400 files that I have no idea about.
This is actually really creepy.

WTF is Dropbox doing?

Screen Shot 2020-04-23 at 11.37.28 PM.png

Lusil

Since the lock icon appears only on your computer, it looks like it's OS-specific. You can try quitting the app and following the steps I mentioned in my previous thread again.

If that doesn't resolve this behavior, I'd recommend contacting Apple support as they may have more info on the matter.

As for the syncing, if the desktop app wasn't connected or running for some time and you made changes to files in your Dropbox folder (eg. editing, moving, or renaming files), then it would simply be checking for changes.

Let me know of any updates or if you have any other questions, and I'll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks, @anthonybme!

anthonybme

I cannot unlock the items in my Dropbox folder to delete them.

Lusil wrote:
> You can try quitting the app, and following the steps I mentioned in my previous thread again.

The steps you mentioned in your previous thread, say:
> On your Mac, select an item, then choose File > Get Info.
> Click the lock icon to unlock it.

I cannot unlock the items in my Dropbox folder to delete them.

Dropbox has smehow set the ownership to something else.

Screen Shot 2020-04-24 at 11.56.44 AM.png
The finder says "fetching" meaning it's waiitng to be told by Dropbox who owns the files.
Since I can only "read" the files on my computer that Dropbox put there
(they weren't there until I reinstalled and re-logged into my account)
I'm not able to delete them.

The the steps you mentioned in my previous thread...
all four times...
tell me to unlock the folder.
Which is exactly what Dropbox is not letting me to do.

And yes, it's aDropbox issue because until I reinstalled Dropbox, and re-logged into my old account,
Those files were not on my computer. So Dropbox put them there.
And Dropbox is assigning ownership of the files.
But not assigning ownership to me.

anthonybme

I solved it the brute force way- Terminal.
Which doesn't fix the underlying Dropbox issue.

Last login: Fri Apr 17 21:58:36 on console

Mac-mini:~ --$ sudo rm -r /Users/--/Dropbox/Music

Password:

override rw-r--r-- 502/staff uchg for /Users/--/Dropbox/Music

I post this as to be a help to others faced with the same issue that isn't solved with the Dropbox FAQ.