Critical System Bug: Folders corrupted with "--" size/date due to Sync Glitch

Question

Hi Community Team & Dropbox Support,

I am requesting urgent intervention for a critical data loss incident. My support case (Case ID: Ticket #26492100) has been ignored by the assigned agent for over 3 days, leaving me with no resolution.

This is NOT a manual deletion issue, but a severe server-side sync/index bug.

As clearly demonstrated in the attached annotated screenshots:

* All folder names remain perfectly intact in my directory path.
* However, both the Last modified dates and Size metrics have turned into blank dashes (--).

If files were manually deleted, the directory framework would be wiped entirely. The presence of intact folder paths with null metadata (--) proves there is a backend database reference corruption / desktop sync loop error affecting my 105 GB partition.

Since Tier 1 support cannot fix broken server-side index references, I urgently request a Moderator or Staff member to escalate my case directly to Tier 2 / Senior Engineering so they can perform an Index Rebuild on my account's backend partition.

Thank you for your swift support.

Regards,

Tiffany.

Здравко · Answer

Hi @tiffanypham_2904,

It's very likely you are in confusion. How did you decide that you have "a critical data loss incident"? 🧐 If the only reason is missing last modification date (it's just a part of metadata; not the entire metadata), it's not a criteria for data lost! Dropbox manages only files last modification date; folder last modification dates are not managed and that's why missing on your screenshot.

The size is different story. Dropbox web interface (what your screenshot shows) does not mandatory show size of folder on page load time. Even more: when shown you cannot rely it's correct - may be just approximation. You may force exact size calculation on every one folder of interest though. Hovering the line representing particular folder and using ellipsis menu:

… you may show the folder size. After that, you may decide whether you have data loss or not. 😉

Good luck.

Mark · Answer

Dropbox doesnt work on partitions like that - so what you are seeing is not a Dropbox error. Dropbox files are stored in separate 4mb blocks - block level sync. So there is no partition for you I'm afraid. That simply isnt the way Dropbox works.

See

https://www.dropbox.com/en_GB/resources/what-is-cloud-storage

for how it works etc.

Were you over quota here? As if you were then files are deleted but folder structures remain intact as they dont use quota.

In terms of your ticket Dropbox doesnt work weekends so all you can do is wait for it to be picked up Monday.