Hi, I have many links in the links-list. Way to many. I take it that the files linked are accessible for anyone with the link. I want all these links removed with one command. It is too many to do it manually for each one.Thanks
Please be careful as it will delete all your shared links! You have been warned! Works in Chrome (61.0.3163.100) maybe firefox and internet explorer but no links to test Open the browser's console window (right click anywhere and select inspect or control+shift+i) while in the shared links page. Paste the following code in the console command line, click enter and it will delete all shared links.
Due to secure http loading jquery (as suggested by other post) does not work, so this option is fine with vanilla javascript. The script below simulates consecutive mouse clicks: 1. click the three dot button next to the link, 2. click the delete link button in the drop down, 3. click the delete link buttin in the pop up dialog box. Note that it will take a minute to execute all those but in the end the list shall be clear. Hope it save you some trouble... and again be careful
for( var index = 0; index < 1000; index++ ){ var dots = document.getElementById("bubbleDropdownTarget-" + index ); if( dots == undefined ) continue; dots.click( ); document.getElementsByClassName( "bubble-menu-item" )[0].click( ); document.getElementsByClassName( "button-primary dbmodal-button" )[0].click( );}
There is no such command. You need to delete them individually.
Would be nice. Can we add this as a feature request?
Yeah, especially with the screenshots uploading to Dropbox automatically in OSX I have thousands of links. I want to save the images, but I want to remove all links. After 10min of clicking Xs and confirmation dialogs I'm only through about 1 month's worth of links, there really needs to be an easier way.
Why are these links being created? I never created thousands of links one-at-a-time, but now I can only delete them one-at-a-time? I must be missing something. Clearly there is a way to bulk create links, but no way to bulk delete them. That makes very little sense.
If Dropbox is unwilling to add a multi-select for the links, at least a universal "remove all links" feature is absolutely necessary. I am now stuck with thousands of links to content that should not be publicly available.
Smart move by Dropbox, trying to monetize on all of us..
You let users upload files as easy as possible but make it extremely difficult to erase them...
"everybody's hustling for a buck and a dime" JL...
I never created thousands of links one-at-a-time, but now I can only delete them one-at-a-time?
Shane... The only way to create links is one at a time, manually. Links are not (and cannot) be created automatically without some input by you.
Francisco... What, exactly, are you having a difficult time with? Deleting files is actually quite easy. Let us know the process you're using and what is difficult about it, and we'll try to help.
Can you show me a way to "select all" in here. I mean, is there a way to do so rather than erasing one file by one? Thxs
Rich R., as you can see in his screenshot (and is my case as well) the Dropbox desktop client automatically uploads and shares all screenshots taken with CMD+Shift+4. If you take lots of screenshort after a short time you end up with hundreds or thousands of individual links. About the only way I can think of getting rid of them en masse is if you delete all the screenshots from Dropbox then the links would probably disappear. My issue is that I don't want to delete all my screenshots, I just don't want them shared anymore.
Possible resolution: Would moving the screenshots (like creating an "archive" folder within the screenshots folder and moving them in there) git rid of the links or do the links follow the files wherever they move within Dropbox? Time to experiment. It would resolve 99% of my issue, but, still, the easiest way would be simple multi-select checkboxes on that page.
Yes, it works. I moved all my screenshots to a new folder called archive within screenshots and the links disappeared. That helped a lot, now I only have like 30 non-screenshot shared links I can delete one at a time.
Can you show me a way to "select all" in here.
Francisco... No, you can't select all on the links page (previously you referred to deleting files, not links).
Would moving the screenshots (like creating an "archive" folder within the screenshots folder and moving them in there) git rid of the links
Clay... Yes, as you've discovered, moving (or renaming, deleting) a file will delete the link to the file as well.
Hi! I have created a gist with code to do this more or less automatically.
It basically clicks each delete button, waits for the modal to open, and then clicks the confirm button. It waits 1 second before clicking the next one. I didn't want to make all requests every 10 ms risking blocking my account.
To use this just open your browser console (cmd + shift + j in chrome) and paste the code in the following link:
(This will only work until the page layout is changed...)
https://gist.github.com/nunogoncalves/e75294ea5a2762befdbf
If you want to costumize you can change the following variables:
var numOfLinksToDelete = 200;
var waitUntilNextLinkInMs = 1000;
k.s., There is an easy workaround to "delete all links": simply rename the root directory, or any directory in the path of said links.
That's not really an option if you don't want to rename the folder. For me the purpose of Dropbox is to keep my stuff organized, and renaming a folder might not be solution. Anyway, it's better than nothing.
Hi Dropbox people,
As a Dropbox for Business user, I have a similar issue with links. As an admin, I can't get a nice overview of all the links created by all users. I can see them in the 'activity' list in the admin console, but not really filtered per person, per date,.... Not like you can list your own links.
Additionally, I don't like to restrict all links to my company by default - it makes it too hard for our people to share with clients, because it means they have to use the browser interface to adjust the permissions. At the same time though, that means I loose control over the links generated and how much of my company's information is readily accessible by outsiders.
Two features requested:
1. Give the admin at leas a possibility to see all links and possibly 'bulk delete'
2. Give the admin a possibilty to have all links expire after a set time by default.
Please please, pretty please.
Koen
what i just did is go to 'sharing' and de-activate the option to create links and then it deactivates all links. i will then re-enable to option to allow future links to be created.
We have about 1,000 files we have to make a URL link. In stead of clicking sharing button in each file, is there any function to make all 1,000 URL links at a time?
If you are trying to build a web site, you should know that dropbox is not intended for web hosting. Using those links could work, but you might run into the download limit for your account.
No, I don't think there is a way to make 1000 links at one time. If there were, how would you use them?
In stead of clicking sharing button in each file, is there any function to make all 1,000 URL links at a time?
No, you can't create share links en masse. If you have a Public folder (deprecated feature that is no longer added to newer accounts) and all the files are within it, then the link structure is the same for all files in Public. Only the file name and any sub-folder name would be different. In that scenario you can create a link to one file, and then just change the file name in the link for all the others.
I totally +1 Koen’s request.
Not being able to see and manipulate sharing links on a per file basis is not very admin-like to begin with.
Until recently we circumvented this by just adding a suffix to the file name which resulted in the link being removed. Until last week that is, when Dropbox rolled out the new feature of links sticking even if you rename or move the file.
While this is a very nice and intelligent feature it killed the only option to easily and reliably make a file inaccessible without actually deleting it.
Deleting files is not an option for us. We have to keep everything we delivered at any given time.Also renaming folders – let alone the root folder – is very clearly a no go.
Renaming no longer invalidates liniks?! How are users supposed to know this?
Go here https://www.dropbox.com/links/your_links
and "x" any links not needed.
Thanks Rick, I know how to remove links that I created myself. What I as a team admin need though ist the ability to remove ANY existing links from a given file – not just the ones create by me.
The only way to do this right now ist to dig through the activity feed in the admin panel. Tedious at best.
As to how users are supposed to know about this, you’ll have to ask the Dropbox team … I know it from the newsletter which I have subscribed to.
Users that this affects (namely, DfB users) were notified via email.
Renaming no longer invalidates links
I moved all Screenshot files (430) outside the Dropbox directory. They disappeared from dropbox.com/links. Then I moved them back. They reappeared and were accessible.
I moved the Screenshot files outside the Dropbox directory (they disappeared) and then to another Dropbox directory. They reappeared in the dropbox.com/links.
I moved a Screenshot file outside the Dropbox directory, renamed the file and moved the file back to another Dropbox directory. The file reappeared in the dropbox.com/links.
I renamed the file, modified the time, edited the file and moved it in a new directory. The new file was visible in the dropbox.com/links and accessible.
Conclusion: managing the rat's nest of shared links is an organizational challenge.
.
And it makes a lot of additional work for users!
Hi, same here, too many links created by screenshots on mac. I like to share my screenshots with my other computers/phone, I don't want to share them to the world. I'd prefer to choose the screenshot I eventually want to share like any other file. Could there be an option to save screenshots to the dropbox folder but not creating links? With the new link functionality that follows files if you move or rename them, the trick of moving screenshots to stop sharing doesn't work anymore! Thanks in advance.
Could there be an option to save screenshots to the dropbox folder but not creating links?
Are you certain that feature doesn't already exist? I can't speak for Mac, but on Windows a link is only created when holding CTRL while taking the screenshot. Take it without that modifier key and it's just a screenshot without a link.
Hi Rich R. Thank you for the tip but it doesn't work on mac. On mac, it uses the same screenshot functionality that the system, with the same shortcuts, but dropbox automatically saves them in a dedicated folder in the dropbox instead of the desktop and automatically creates a link. But if it's possible on windows, it should be on mac... The annoying part is that the first message on this topic complaining about this mac only functionality is 6 months old, and nothing changed yet
There is a way to save screenshots to dropbox without creating the shared link by default, by using a built in feature of OS X and the terminal.
Open a terminal and issue these two commands:
defaults write com.apple.screencapture location ~/Dropbox/Screenshots
killall SystemUIServer
for details see:http://mac-how-to.wonderhowto.com/how-to/change-default-save-location-screenshots-mac-os-x-for-cleaner-desktop-0160154/
If you never use public links, know what you are doing, and want to purge all links try the script below.
(No warranty, batteries not included)
https://gist.github.com/benpage26/f9ca98a317660ab99aa3f8ea223b2051
If I select to "link & share" a folder I am sending to Client A, can all my other clients (with links to their own folders) also see Client A's folder? (even though it's nothing to do with them!). Clients don't always have Dropbox on their computers so I "link" them. It's just a security question I was worried about.