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deleted folder re appeared after a couple of years

Something very weird just happened with my dropbox account. Out of nowhere, a folder which was deletec about 2 years ago re appeared on my dropbox. It has the files as they were, which makes me wonder why the hell dropbox is still keeping these files after a few years that they have been deleted?

First I thought it was a hack, but then I checked all my devices and what was accessing my account and indeed, everything was as it was before.

It makes me think this is a serious bug and on another note, why the hell is dropbox keeping data that was deleted 2 years ago?

I'll surprised, scared and angry at the same time. I'm not even sure where to begin! I'm now wondering about several of my clients that use dropbox in their business if the same happens.

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Ross_S

Thanks everyone for your patience while we worked on a way to clean up the inadvertently restored files and folders. We've built a fix that will automatically return this content to the way it should be: deleted and out of your Dropbox. This will only impact the inadvertently restored files and folders, and only if you haven’t updated them. We’ll begin rolling out the fix to affected users’ accounts later today. We’re giving you a heads up here so you’re aware of why there may be changes to your Dropbox. Here’s a bit more information about the fix.

Will this affect my other files?
The fix will only impact the inadvertently restored files and folders. If you have edited the files or folders—by moving them or updating the content inside—they will stay in your Dropbox. You can still manually delete these files and folders if you don’t want them.

What if I don’t want these files or folders removed?
While the fix will automatically take effect later today, you can contact our support team (dropbox.com/support) within 30 days and we’ll restore the files and folders for you. You won’t be able to restore on your own using the events page.

Do I need to do anything?
We will automatically roll out the fix, you don’t need to do a thing. If you have questions or concerns, please write our support team at http://bit.ly/cm-support so that we can investigate your specific case. Your ticket will be prioritized by the team.

Thanks again for your patience, and we’re sorry for any inconvenience and confusion we’ve caused.

All comments

grilopedro

Just happend the same with me. 5 or 6 folders from 2011 suddenly ressurected on my dropbox. This also happend on my office's accont with folders from 2012. This makes me wonder if there is a global issue here.

The problem now is quite simple: HOW CAN WE TRUST DROPBOX EVER AGAIN?

It just made my server uploud 4Gb of unnecessary/obsolete files for no reason.

Honestly dissapointed.

toddwhite

So do I need to re-delete these or will you clean up as part of the resolution? just checking before I start cleaning up my files.

'- -.4

This is happening to me too. Finding stuff deleted many, many years ago. It's confusing the hell out of me. Maybe as consolation, Dropbox will give us all a free 500 MB of space?

Joe C.13

Uhhh, this is really weird. When I went into my dropbox today, I noticed a folder named 21 with a .png file named clue21.png which is just a picture of a blue square. If I remember this was a clue from the dropquest a bunch of years back. Why is this folder\file suddently reapearing?? It said this file was made on 1/18/2017 at 6:00 AM.

Rich

Joe C.13 wrote:
I noticed a folder named 21 with a .png file named clue21.png which is just a picture of a blue square. If I remember this was a clue from the dropquest a bunch of years back.

Merging your post with the other thread that is already discussing this issue.

sector7g

So will Dropbox roll back this error eventually or is manual deletion the only solution?

Ross_S

Thanks again for your patience, and we’re sorry for any inconvenience and confusion we’ve caused.

thanar

Indeed; this is what also makes me wonder. Dropbox is supposed to be erasing forever deleted files that's older than 30 days on a few account. Where did all this data come from? This means that potentially they can store anything for ever and this makes you think...

RTouris

I suppose at some point the ToS potentially gave Dropbox the OK to keep backups of all users files for ...ever, however such incidents only add to the confusion of the conundrum that Dropbox as well as other online backup [services] have become as of late..

Rich

thanar wrote:
Dropbox is supposed to be erasing forever deleted files that's older than 30 days on a few account. Where did all this data come from?

That has already been addressed in this thread. On this very page, in fact...

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Missing-files-and-folders/deleted-folder-re-appeared-after-a-couple-of-years/m-p/203016/highlight/true#M8819

lem86

I am still seeing them - not sure how long the fix will take to be implemented?

Michael G.23

Ross,

I have the same question asked by:

@bradgillespie

Level 2

Friday

Options

Ross, thanks for this. One thing, its unclear how to identify all those files that have reappeared. There are obvious top level folders that have reappeared, but how do I find files that may have reappeared somewhere inside a valid top level folder (that is a folders that was correctly in my dropbox just before the bug) if I have 100Ks of valid files and folders in my dropbox?

Can you give some more guidance on how to identify them? Or does this bug only put these reappearing files and folders at the top level of my dropbox?

jonny1

This happened to me too. All of a sudden a really old (at that time shared with another account) folder reappeared. From 2011 circa. Several gigabytes.

Lily

On Jan 17 some old files spontaneously appeared in my recents folder. These were audio files. We have shared access with my husband. None of us opened these files for the last two years. How is it possible? I have checked the security and events log. Looks like we were not hacked. Today another surprise. We found two videos recorded years ago in the recents folder again. None of us opened these files again. Does this have anything to do with this bug fix that restored deleted files?

scrglblprvcy

**bleep** .. You keep files for an extra 60 day after deletion!

Did the NSA ask you to do that?

Markus K.6

Same here. I am seeing some old folders and cannot delete them.

Moreover, if I use the API's list_folder endpoint with the include_deleted option I see a lot of files and folders that have been permanently delete years ago.

Why are they still there? I can't believe that so many files and folders have metadata inconsistencies.

souravmishra

Thanks Ross,

We are glad Dropbox patched this problem. I have two short queries and hoping that you can reply.

I am sure some serious users may be having these questions on their minds too.

For people having lots of folders, how to ensure that all the "un-dead" files & folders are purged. Right now the events section does not tell me any details if anything popped up.
Has Dropbox ensured that previous versions of the file were not accidentally restored over legitimate files in their most recent versions.

The second question is more relevant since we have maybe worked on many files over the months & years and updated them with newer versions. Just because dropbox managed to revert all the zombie additions isnt enough. We have to be certain that the versions were right and/or they didn't delete legit file entirely from the folder index because it was affected i.e files missing because they were affected by the bug.

When we have several thousand files totalling to several GB's it is very hard to go and check them individually. We can't be even sure if the bug has been entirely quashed. Your response (even if bit technical) can help restore some faith in the bugfix.

floris

If dropbox wanted to know if their pro users were in doubt about staying past the /public folder nonsense, this is a kick in the direction of the door and through it.

I guess the next 'news' they keep 'quiet' is that our data has already been leaked and not just our user/pass combo.

Deesazter

Hoi Floris,

Ik ben op zoek naar Nederlandse Dropbox-gebruikers die onverwachts verwijderde bestanden weer terughebben. Zou ik contact met je kunnen opnemen?

Met vriendelijke groet,
Danny
Redactie Kassa

feklee

See screenshot below – I got in contact with support concerning the issue. Yesterday’s response, after waiting for about a week: “At the current moment we are not able to disclose the information you requested regarding the bug as we are still investigating this issue.”

Can anyone here tell me when files and folders have mysteriously reappeared?

I would like to compare old backups to see whether my account is affected.

Ross_S

Hi there,

Appologies for that, the information there is not correct, this bug is infact resolved, as I mentioned in my previous post. We'll reach back out to you by email and clarify any further questions you have.

Many thanks.

feklee

Four days ago I finally got an email from Luke, member of the Dropbox application specialist team: “While some of our users were affected by the described bug I want to be clear, you were not affected. None of your data was no recently restored and there is nothing to worry about here.”

That's what I wanted to know. So the issue is resolved for me.

jduffeytx

@Ross S. - Old files reappeared in my Dropbox folder spanning the past 5 years. In trying to figure out the reason I came across this thread. Your post says the bug has been resolved, but in my case it seems to have taken effect in the past 24-48 hours. The link to technical support is no longer working, but I have sent in a request using the Contact Us page.

jduffeytx

This is the response I got from Dropbox, essentially telling me I am the reason old files are reappearing. How could this person not acknowledge the bug that this entire thread is devoted to???? Very frustrating!

Casey, Feb 15, 8:01 AM PST:
Hi Jeff,

Thank you for contacting Dropbox Support.

Reappearing files and folders usually occur because one or more of the computers that are synced are still accessing the folders. If you delete them, an application on another computer recreates them to continue working on the files.

To solve this issue, you should delete the file or folder from the Dropbox folder on the computer that's recreating the file. You can see which computer has re-added the file by going to the website and checking previous versions of the file.

The instructions for checking a file's version history can be viewed here:

https://www.dropbox.com/help/11

Please note that you can only view the previous version of files not folders. If you have a reappearing folder, you'll need to open the folder until you locate a file, so that you can view the previous version of the file within the folder.

Thank you!

Regards,
Casey

BackMeUp

The link to contact Support isn't working. Many of my folders & files seem to have been deleted (not by me), then restored incompletely. The files that were restored appeared in unusual places in my account. I am still missing hundreds of files. Could you please extend the 30 day file recovery period so affected users such as myself have some time to figure out what files are still missing? My entire account is a mess because of this, and shared folders have caused even more problems.

Hi there -
This seems to be a separate issue and I'd recommend contacting support again (replying to your existing ticket) to continue the support on it.

The issue raised on this thread was specific to what Ross has responded and has ben resolved already. I'll go ahead and close this thread but you're welcome to initiate new discussions if you see new issues that the community can help you with.

Thanks!