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Folders are empty

Recently had big problems with my Mac and finally boguht a new one. I've installed Dropdox and all my files show up but they are all EMPTY! Any thoughts on how I can restore them? All help much appreciated. Thank you. Rik

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Mark

Have you given Dropbox time to download them? Things take time - it does all folders first before files.

Do you see the files at www.dropbox.com/home ?

Rikonthebarge

Hi Mark

Thank you for the speedy response.

I downloaded Dropbox onto my Mac last night (probably aboput 20 hours ago). I confess I didn't actually check inside the folders until this morning.

I have had a look on Dropbox Home and so far as I can see, the folders there are still empty.

Matters at my end are not helped by a staggeringly slow broadband speed but I don't know if this would have any bearing on Dropbox Home. I will keep checking.

Thanks, Rik

Lusil

Hey @Rikonthebarge, just to make sure that we're on the same page, are the folders also empty on the web?

Rikonthebarge

Hi Lusil

Yes, ther certainly apper to be empty. Well, not QUITE empty; there are a few random files that all apper with the Skype logo beside them; they do not open.

Thanks for your interest. I hope this helps.

Rik

Nazrie

Probably the documents or items in it is not uploaded fully. That's why only file appears. You can try other paid online web/software to retrieve your deleted file in your mac

Rikonthebarge

Hi Nazrie

Thanks for your thoughts. Up until my laptop started misbehaving I was using the files in my dropbox often (not all of them but enough to know that the files have certainly been there. Unless I am being totally stupid (which is not beyond the bounds of possibility), they are not there now.

Other possibly useful info: I am now on a different laptop. I also undated my operating system before Christmas and I have a feeling that was the point at which the problems started with the old laptop. I am now using Mac OS 11.2.

Any further thoughts will be warmly welcomed

Rik

Lusil

Could you have a look at your events page to see if there's a recent record of these files?

Rikonthebarge

Hi Lusil

I went back into my events and clicked on a random file that was listed as added in december. It headed to my downloads file but then immediately flagged with this message "The file “Statement_15Jul2019.pdf” could not be opened because it is empty."

I went back a bit further into the events list. Two files picked at random did download but on opening them, they are empty.

The events list doesn't seem to go back beyond last september.

I hope this helps

Thanks.

Rik

Lusil

Just to make sure that we are on the same page, is the 'downloads' you're referring to a folder in your Dropbox account or your browser's Downloads location?

If you could send me a screenshot of the error message, that would be super helpful.

Rikonthebarge

To Clarify; I clicked on the file showing on my events and it started to download to the "Downloads" folder on my Mac. But then it immediately put up the error message saying it was empty. I pasted the entire error message into my last message here but here is a screenshot. R

Screenshot 2021-02-05 at 17.07.08.png

Daphne

Thanks for the screenshot @Rikonthebarge.

Could you check the properties of the file and send me a screenshot (excluding any personal info) of what you see there?

You just need to right click the file and choose "Get info" if you're not familiar with this.

Rikonthebarge

Dear Daphne

Thank you fro your interest.

I can get info on the file that downloaded back to my Mac (this confirms that the file is empty). Hopefully I cab attach a screenshot of the info panel of that.

However, I cannot get info on the files that appear in my Dropbox (there is no right click on a Mac. Command "I" doesn't produce a result and double clicking simply downloads the file again.

I should also add that I had to try this with a different file as now I can't find the file I originally tried! The folders in my dropbox are empty but, as I mentioned earlier, some files do show on my events activity. I wish I was more tech savvy but sadly I'm wholly dependent on things working as expected - or else on the tech-savvy genii behind the scenes!

Screenshot 2021-02-05 at 19.48.32.png

Jay

Hi @Rikonthebarge, it sounds like the files aren't downloading correctly onto your machine from the site.

You mentioned that you installed the desktop app, is the Dropbox icon visible in the menu bar at the top?

When you click the icon, what message do you see on the bottom left? Does it say syncing, up to date, or another message?

Rikonthebarge

Hi Jay

Sadly, the drop down menu does say that the download is complete. I have just checked again but those files remain stubbornly absent.

Thank you for your interest

Rik

Daphne

Can you have a look at the version history for this file in your account online with these steps, @Rikonthebarge?

Do you see a previous version of the files that you can restore?

If not, if you just view the file in Dropbox online, can you see what size the file is showing there too?

You can check out these steps if you have any trouble with this.

Rikonthebarge

Dear Daphne

Thank you for your patience on this issue.

Almost every folder in my dropbox now shows up as Empty. One or two folders do have the odd file in them but these, when I click them, do not open but instead I'm presented with two sub folders labelled Data and Metadata; these folders are also empty. The drop down menu does not display a version history option. I can sometimes reveal a Folder History option but this produces no results. I have check both the Dropbox folder here on the website and the one that I access through the menu bar on my Mac.

As far as I can tell, my dropbox is empty apart from files I have added recently such as the screenshots posted in this thread.

This is hugely disappointing as well as distressing. Your mention of a "restore" option gave me hope but there is nothing to restore! What is going on?

Rik

Daphne

I'd like to see if there is any that we can find and assist you with regarding this @Rikonthebarge, so I've just reached out to the email linked with your profile here.

When you have the time, please check your inbox and get back to me there, so we can have a look into this alongside some account specific info - thanks!

Renata7

Hi everyone

Was there a solution to this problem in the end? I just discovered all my folders are empty - both on the app as well as on the online version of Dropbox. It may be something very similar since I had to do a complete system reboot on my MacBook recently. It irritates me though that the files are gone online as well... Really hoping, this can be reversed! 😱😰

Best wishes, Renata

Rikonthebarge

Hi Renata

The team at Dropbox did work hard to try to recover my files but sadly they were unable to recover files more than a few months old. If you did this reboot recently, I would advise that you get in touch with them immediately to give you the best chance of recovering as much as possible.

Best of luck.

Rik

Renata7

Hi Rik

Thanks for the quick reply - I will do as you suggested immediately! Sorry for your files!!!

Best, Renata

Lusil

Hey @Renata7, sorry to hear about this.

If you already submitted a ticket to our team, could you let us know its ID (eg. #1234567)?

Renata7

Hi Lusil

Thanks for getting in touch. I don't see how I could submit a ticket (I'm a basic user maybe that's why 😓), I'm not even able to chat to the Dropbot? Or is there a link I missed somewhere? Thanks for any help!

Best wishes,

Renata

Lusil

No worries, @Renata7!

I've sent you a ticket myself, so check your inbox whenever you get the chance.

Renata7

Dear @Lusil

Thank you - but somehow, I seem to have solved the problem in restoring the few files that were still in the "deleted files" section. After doing so, all the other files reappeared as well. So, you can close the ticket - or if I have to do this, I will.

Thank you for getting in touch!

Best wishes,

Renata

Lusil

Oh that's great to hear, @Renata7!

If anything else comes up in the future, don't hesitate to give us another shout.

In the meantime, I hope you have a great weekend ahead of you!

DonSee

I have DropBox basic (free). Its been more than 30 days since I've last accessed my files. Today my DropBox is empty. If I upgrade my account, will I be able to restore two months ago?

Mark

Hi @DonSee

No, sorry, that wont work - extended recovery is only available if you had it at the time of deletion.

What does www.dropbox.com/events show? Does that show the deletions?