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Dropbox deleting files by itself

I have a Dropbox file that I share with 2 other collaborators and for some reason, I keep getting notices asking if I'm sure I want to delete a file. I didn't want to delete the file and hadn't even touched it. So I hit 'cancel' and it deletes it anyway. This has happened twice in the last week and my collaborators are getting tired of having to re-install it. Help, this is very embarassing and makes me never want to use Dropbox for collaboration again!

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Lusil

Hey there @mckaugha33! Just to add to what @Mark mentioned, what does your events page show? You can also have a look through the version history of the file as well for more info.

Do keep us updated on this and we’ll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks!

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Mark

Dropbox can only do what you are telling it, so, of you are getting that pop up it is being generated by something... it shouldnt be doing it though if you press cancel. You may want to report that bit at www.dropbox.com/support which you can track at http://dropbox.zendesk.com

Just as an aside, if you move the files out of the Dropbox folder (or the folder that is shared) that will also delete it. Could that be the issue?

Lusil

Hey there @mckaugha33! Just to add to what @Mark mentioned, what does your events page show? You can also have a look through the version history of the file as well for more info.

Do keep us updated on this and we’ll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks!

Ana Aragay

Ok I was able to restore more than 40,000 files, but why does this happen? I need to be able to control it, this time I was online and noticed it right away, but it has happened to me before and I noticed the deletion of many files several months later. Do I need to keep an extra backup somewhere else?

Lusil

Hi @Ana Aragay, thanks for nudging us on this thread.

You can check out this thread where Jay proposes some ideas on how a file can get deleted from your account.

If you have any other questions in the meantime, just give us a shout. Thanks!

Ana Aragay

Thank you Lusil, I have read all of them and I am pretty sure it was none of the above.

I was actually working on some Indesign documents, and even those lost their names and got a super long number "name" while still open. Besides it was physically impossible for me to delete 49,000 files from hundreds of folders. After I went into dropbox to restore everything deleted in the past 6 minutes, the timer marked 18 hrs to get back everything on my computer and 90% of my folders had the syncing icon turning. I have a mac, no antivirus, no samsungs, events page said it was me ho had deleted them, no different signing in, no external drive -- just me working on my computer as I always do and suddenly I started getting the upper right page notifications of things being deleted and not being able to stop it.

Please let me know if there is anything else I can do, if not I will just back up on an external drive too to be safe.

Thanks!

Graydon

I have a Mac (pro) as well, and have been experiencing files dispappearing randonly as well. My setup is I have my whole dropbox files (1.5 Tb) on a dedicated 4 Tb WD USB drive. Almost every couple of days, I wil go lookign for a file, and find the whole folder empty. I go to the Dropbox web page, and UNDELETE the files that have been deleted in the past week. I used to UNDELETE everything, but now, its happens so often (the last 6 months) that I just look for huge batches of files that have been deleted, not just single files. I never delete a whole folder of files, so its easy to spot the files I'm missing.

I have, a few times, been working on files in a folder and actually see them get deleted, the files, one by one, pop out of existence

Right now, literally, I am physically moving my dropbox to a brand new 4 TB WD drive, in case the problem was the old drive failing.

I have been assuming its some issue on my end, becaude I have found DropBox pretty bullet proof till now, and this would be a magor bug.

Glebich

I have this issue for many years now. And decide to address it. I have an external drive for dropbox and when I unplug it and then plugin again in 10 hours, approximately files Deleting automatically from my dropbox without any action from my side. History shows that at 7 AM someone deletes 10 0000 files. But there was no one near the computer. I have no idea what's going on. Of course, I restore files quickly but Why this happens? I have enough space on my hard drive and file, which is was deleted was using actively.

Jay

Hi @Glebich, an external drive can definitely lead to deleted files, as I've noted in this thread with various reasons why it can happen.

Regarding the history you're seeing, this is when the deletion is officially noted on the system, since deletions aren't instant and do take time, so that you can then restore the files.

Hope this helps to clarify matters!