I uninstalled my app to free up space, and deleted all my content but all my files are also gone.

Question

I had about 40gb of files, and thought deleting the dropbox app would free up space and stay on my dropbox online. Instead, it deleted everything on my desktop that I have had no luck trying to recover. And when I went onto my dropbox account online, those files were also not there.

I thought deleting the app on my laptop just meant it would delete copies of the files that were already on the online version? I had no idea it was going to wipe out my desktop 😭

I always hear that you can't recover files that have been permanently deleted (it deleted permanently automatically, without going to the recycle bin) but I'm trying to see if there's a way to recover it, because this isn't what I was expecting whatsoever!

What I've tried already (that didn't work):

* restored pc to a previous version (about 30 minutes before they got deleted)
* trying to restore deleted files through online version (no deleted files existed on there)
* reinstalled Dropbox app on my pc

I'm seriously at a loss and I'm not super tech savvy. Thank you so much for those who can help out!

Megan · Answer

Hi there, @macabremammoth!

Quick check-in to see if you caught my last reply. Do you need more help?

If yes, then I'm happy to assist. If everything is sorted, we'd love to hear what fixed it.

Megan · Answer

Hey there, @macabremammoth, sorry to hear about that!

First, please keep in mind that when a Dropbox account is deleted, your files will stop syncing, but they are not automatically removed from your computer. You can find more details about how this works in our Help Center article here.

You also mentioned that you had 40GB of files inside your Dropbox folder, right? Do you use a paid plan by any chance? I'm asking because the Dropbox Basic plan gives you 2GB of storage space. This means none of the extra files would have synced to your account online if you didn't have the available space.

Can you check your Events page and let me know if it shows any activity for the missing files? Please double-check that you are logged into the correct Dropbox account. Do you happen to have another email address they might be under?

Also, if you've ensured that you're looking at the correct Dropbox account, may I ask when is the last time you remember seeing your missing files on the Dropbox website?

This would include all of the following places:

* your homepage
* your deleted files page
* the events page
* the backups page
* the sharing page

Keep me posted, and we'll take it from there!