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How can I restore my Dropbox account which was deleted when the team was deleted?

I have had a basic dropbox account for close to 10 years. Maybe a few years ago, I joined a dropbox team so that I could share a few photos with some friends. Recently, the business team account was deleted, but it seems that my personal basic account was impacted as well. I didn't realize that the closing of the business account would impact my personal dropbox as well. I can no longer access my personal account and all of my files i stored there.

Signing into dropbox leads me to creating a new account, but the years of documents that I have stored previously is no longer accessible. Please help !

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Jay

Hi @Dvan, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Do you recall if the Dropbox team admin converted your account to a personal plan away from the team prior to the team being disbanded?

Do you have any other devices that could contain your Dropbox folder on it, and haven't yet synced to the site?

This will help me to assist further!

Dvan

I dont believe the dropbox team admin did anything of the sort. I didn't realize that joining a dropbox team would've impacted my personal account in that way (or convert my existing account to a team account).

I have a device where I can see some of my dropbox folder, but none of the files are accessible, they all seemed to be corrupted.

Please let me know if there is anything that can be done. I am now realizing that I've had my account for over 10 years, so there are countless things on there!

Jay

When you join a Dropbox team, the team admin technically owns your account and all data within, so when they deleted the team, this would also delete your account.

Could you clarify what you mean by the files being corrupted? Were the files originally online-only and they're only 0 bytes on your computer??

Dvan

I didn't realize that joining a Dropbox team would move all my personal files under the teams account. I assumed that instead, I would have had access to the teams account and still retain my personal account as a separate entity.

After a closer look, it seems that all my personal files are only visible under the team folder, and I am not able to access it as the team account has been deleted. When I try to open anything from my desktop I run into the below error (for MS word files).

The files are not 0 bytes, I have also attached a screenshot of what is visible from my desktop. The issue, I think, is that everything has been moved to under the deleted team account.

Please advise further on next steps. It would mean so much if I could retrieve these files, I have been using dropbox for over 10 years and it has been my primary source of file storage.

Error message

Files visible from my PC (but not accessible)

Jay

Could you right click one of those files, and then 'Properties'? The 'Size on disk' would confirm if the file is 0 bytes.

Dvan

It does seem to be 0 bytes.

Mark

Dvan wrote:
The files are not 0 bytes, I have also attached a screenshot of what is visible from my desktop. The issue, I think, is that everything has been moved to under the deleted team account.

That screenshot really helps, however, those images show that the files are not in Dropbox but are actually stored in OneDrive - that's what the little picture next to each file means (the briefcase).

Try launching OneDrive and/or going to the OneDrive website to find your files.

Dvan

Thanks for the reply Mark. If you look at my latest screenshot of the file properties above, you can see that the files are located in Dropbox as per the location. Additionally, I've included another screenshot below to illustrate further.

Megan

Hey @Dvan, let me also jump in here!

Can you try two things for me?

One is to quit OneDrive -if you're using it on your device- and keep Dropbox running, and check if the files preview when you do that.

If that doesn't work, can you try quitting both OneDrive, and Dropbox and try again?

Mark

Dvan wrote:
If you look at my latest screenshot of the file properties above, you can see that the files are located in Dropbox as per the location.

They may be in the Dropbox directory, but OneDrive is syncing and controlling them - that often happens if you try and sync the same directories twice, or, OneDrive has its backup etc. running.

Dvan

Hi Megan,

I've tried quitting OneDrive as you suggested, but am still running into the same issue. I've also tried quitting Dropbox and trying again, but to no avail.

It seems that all my personal files have been moved to the team account (that was deleted due to inactivity), and I can't access anything anymore.

Dvan

I've double checked my onedrive and didn't find anything related to my old dropbox files. I did however find a dropbox folder, but it seems linked to my dropbox account I created again recently since my old one was deactivated / deleted.

Walter

Hey @Dvan - thanks for the additional information and the screenshots too. I just wanted to mention that this Dropbox folder seems to be a shortcut to your Dropbox folder on your computer that's stored in your One Drive.

May I ask when is the last time you remember seeing your files in Dropbox on the website and/or when was the team account you initially mentioned deleted?

Dvan

Hi Walter,

The team account was permanently deleted in Sept 2024. I saw the email, but ignored it at the time because I didn't realize that my personal files were moved under the team account as well. The last time I've accessed my files must have been before Sept 2024, I just didn't notice I was accessing my personal under the team folder and not my personal folder anymore.

Nancy

Hi from me too, @Dvan! I know it’s been a while since last September, but do you remember if all of the files in your local Dropbox folder were set as available offline or online-only instead?

Dvan

Hi Nancy,

I can't recall which one of those settings were marked for my dropbox.

Megan

Hey @Dvan!

It seems our options are limited in this situation, as we can't determine the extent of OneDrive's interference prior to the account deletion. I'd recommend checking with OneDrive online to see if the Dropbox folder might have been synced there, as this could provide a way to recover your content.

Regarding your local files, unfortunately, there's little we can do. The fact that the content shows as 0kB suggests it wasn't stored locally. You can also try right clicking on the Dropbox folder, and checking its properties to see if it still shows as 0kB.

That said, I can open a ticket on my end to explore if there's anything we can do regarding the account deletion. However, I want to be upfront that I can't make any promises, especially since some time has passed since the account was deleted.

Let me know how you'd like to proceed.

Dvan

Actually, when I view the dropbox properties, it does not show 0kb ! Hopefully that means there is still hope to restore these files? If there are any next steps to follow, please advise.

Please go ahead and open a ticket, perhaps there is something that can still be done.

Jay

Hi @Dvan, just to inform you that the file size is still very small, only 280 KB out of a possible 12.8 GB of data, which does mean that most, if not all of your files, were online only.

Is the email associated with the current Dropbox profile the same email as the one which was deleted previously?

Dvan

Hi Jay,

Yes, the email associated with my current account is the same as my previously used email.

Thanks,
Dustin

Hannah

Thanks, @Dvan, I just emailed you, so we'll continue there.