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All my files have disappeared without any action on my part. How can I recover them?

Hello,

I'm facing a very serious issue: all of my files have disappeared from my Dropbox account overnight, without me performing any deletion.

I have already:

Checked the deleted files section (nothing there)
Reviewed the events history (no clear trace of mass deletion)
Verified connected devices (no suspicious access)
Contacted customer support, but received no real help
Read all FAQ articles without finding a solution

I am using a Dropbox Basic account, and I urgently need assistance to recover my data — or at the very least, a clear explanation of what happened.

Please escalate this ticket to a Level 2 technician, or provide me with a concrete solution for restoration, as this is a critical situation for me.

Sincerely

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Nancy

Hey @form_ud, I’m sorry to hear about the situation.

Have you also checked your Shared tab here, and you don’t see any of your missing files/folders with the option to add them back to your Dropbox account?

If you remember the names of any files/folders, you can also use the search bar on www.dropbox.com to look for them.

Besides that, is it possible you have a second Dropbox account, under another email address, where your files are currently stored?

Finally, I’d like to know the ticket number of your support request, so that I can check it, as well.

Let me know once you have more info.

form_ud

Yes, I’ve checked the Shared tab.

Even when searching for some of my folders using the search bar, nothing comes up. I don’t think I have a second Dropbox account — I’ve always used the same one.

Ticket number: 25110511.
Thanks for your help.

Nancy

Thanks for these updates! Can you also check any other email addresses you may have, just in case? What you can do is log in and search their inbox (and spam folder) for any emails from Dropbox.

Other than that, can you please double check your ticket number for any typos? I tried to look it up in our system, but I couldn’t find any results; I’d like to see if there’s something else happening.

form_ud

I’ve checked, and none of my other email addresses have any messages from Dropbox.

Also, what does the ticket number refer to, and where can I find it?

Eri_Biz

I encounter the exact same problem

Nancy

The ticket number should look like the one you provided above (you can double check if all digits are correct from your email address, if you can access the ticket in your inbox).

You can also paste a screenshot of the ticket number here and I'll check it for you.

Nancy

Hey @Eri_Biz! I’ve gone ahead and spammed your other post, so that we can avoid duplicates on the forum and keep everything in one place.

Can you let me know if you’ve already tried all the suggestions provided above, including checking for a second Dropbox account?

If you've reached our support team as well, I'd like to know the ticket number you got.

form_ud

Unfortunately, I can’t find any trace of my exchange with the sales team — the conversation isn’t archived in the chat. But in any case, no ticket was opened; they asked me to contact support directly by sending a message. I never received any reply (see screenshot).

Eri_Biz

Thank you for your help. I have checked for an account on diffrent email and it worked.

The problem was that when opening dropbox it was supposed to open with my yahoo email. But today it logged in, without me changing anything, with my gmail email, so it appeared as a completely new empty account.

I have not reached support team and I do not have a ticket number.

Rich

form_ud wrote:
I can’t find any trace of my exchange with the sales team

The Sales team can't provide support. You need to contact the Support team if the option is available to you.

form_ud wrote:
they asked me to contact support directly by sending a message. I never received any reply (see screenshot).

You can't just email Support. You need to open a ticket, if able, from the Support page. Not all accounts have access to support in this manner. If you have a Basic account, you have access to the various self-help options or asking questions here on the forums.

form_ud wrote:
Reviewed the events history (no clear trace of mass deletion)

Is there any activity at all on your Events page, or is it blank as though it's a new account?

form_ud

Indeed, I have a Basic account, which doesn’t allow me to create a ticket or communicate directly with someone from the support team. This is quite limiting.

And yes, indeed, there’s no activity at all — it looks just like a brand new account.

Nancy

I’m glad to hear that was the issue indeed and you could access the correct Dropbox account, @Eri_Biz!

Is it possible you chose the "Sign up" option today, instead of "Sign in"? Or that you were previously logged in to Dropbox with the Gmail account and your browser directed you there automatically today?

Nancy

@form_ud, I can go ahead and log a ticket for you instead. Is it OK, if I reach you to the email address you see tied to your Community profile here?

form_ud

It’s possible, but I don’t see how — my Dropbox is never logged out and syncs automatically every day. I think the second option is more likely: my browser may have automatically redirected me to that account today. But how can I stop this from happening?

form_ud

Yes of course !

Nancy

Sure thing, @form_ud! Before logging a ticket though, can you please clarify what you meant here?

I’m just asking because you previously mentioned that you don’t have another Dropbox account, so I’d like to make sure that’s still the case and that we’re going to look into the correct Dropbox account via email.

When looking at this page here, do you see the email address that has always been linked to your Dropbox account?

form_ud

It is indeed one and the same account — the one I’m using is the one that has always been linked to my Dropbox account.

Mark

form_ud wrote:
It is indeed one and the same account — the one I’m using is the one that has always been linked to my Dropbox account.

What does http://www.dropbox.com/events show?

Can you pop a screenshot on here?

form_ud

This is quite troubling — I can see in the screenshot: "You removed your access to the shared folder 'Formation CGT Doubs.' Today, at 07:02," even though I wasn’t even at my workstation at that time. Where could this have come from???

Nancy

Are you the owner of this folder? Can you see it here and add it back to your Dropbox account?

Mark

form_ud wrote:
You removed your access to the shared folder 'Formation CGT Doubs.' Today, at 07:02,"

So, somebody or something removed you from the Shared Folder. You can rejoin via https://www.dropbox.com/share/folders . In terms of time its possible that isn't the exact time it happened but when it finished (if its a large file). Take the time stamp with a pinch of salt.

OR if its on a network drive/external drive that is what time it disconnected from your machine.

form_ud

Yes, I am the owner. How can I rejoin it? Also, I find it strange because before, several of us had access to the Dropbox, and now I no longer see any trace of my colleagues in my shared folders.

Walter

Apologies for the tardy response @form_ud - are you still having issues with this?

form_ud

Indeed, the issue has unfortunately never been resolved. Since I don’t know the person who removed me from the folder, I have no way of regaining access unless that person adds me back. I’ve had to gradually rebuild everything on my own.

Walter

I see, thanks for the update on this @form_ud

Did you contact our support team about this at some point?

form_ud

Yes, yes, I’ve spoken with them several times, but unfortunately, nothing worked.

Nancy

If someone else has removed you from a folder, then the only option is to contact them and have them add you back indeed, I’m afraid.

However, since you’re not sure who that person may be, have you checked your past email communications from Dropbox or your Dropbox account notifications? You may be able to see who this folder was shared with and reach out to them.