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deleted files re-synced for no reason

loomy

hello,

i have deleted about 500 jpg files (out of 2000 files ****** folder), dropbox started to sync whole account and downloaded the deleted files again. On website i can see they were removed - i even have option to restore them, but i want them gone for good from all synced devices. i don't wanna selectively remove them again because it took me a good 30 minutes to do it the first time.

so is there an automated option to delete them for good?

also i'm worried that if i remove them again, they will get synced and downloaded again

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Walter

Thanks for keeping me in the loop @loomy!

At this point, could you try re-installing the app on the affected computer and let me know the results?

If the issue persists, would it be OK with your if I reached out to your Dropbox associated email address to work on this together?

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Walter

Hi @loomy - welcome to the Dropbox family!

I'm sorry to hear you're having issues with this. Don't worry though, I'm here to help.

To begin with, I'm assuming you waited long enough for those changes to sync across your devices until the desktop app within your computer's system tray/menu bar showed 'Up to date' - right?

As you may have noticed, often when you delete files (or folders), they don’t immediately disappear from every synced computer. If you have a synced computer running an application that is using the file, that will cause the file to reappear in your Dropbox account. Or, if you’re seeing a shared file or folder reappear after deletion, it may be that a person you shared it with is accessing it.

To check and see if another computer or person is accessing a file, you can look at the previous versions of the file.

If you check the previous versions of the file and see that it was accessed from an application on another computer, you can delete it off of that specific computer to stop it from reappearing in your Dropbox.

You can see your account's connected devices under your account's Security tab if you need to clarify or check your devices' names.

I hope this points you towards the right direction and I'm always a post away if you have any follow up questions.

Apologies for the long post

loomy

thank you for replying so fast

yes, dropbox app is showing up to date, that's why i'm surprised the deleted files reappeared on my computer. while i was deleting from this pc, my other computer may have been turned on with dropbox app installed as well. i would think it would remove those files as well but apparently it didn't and you say it is responsible for re-uploading it to this computer.

well my question is - if there is a way to perm delete the files?

because looks like i only have the option to restore them, which clearly i don't want to use

Walter

Thanks for your swift reply too @loomy!

Could you clarify if those files were within a shared folder? In that case it would make sense that you don't see an option to permanently delete them but only to restore them.

In any case, if you'd like to permanently delete your files you can do so from the Deleted Files page here: https://www.dropbox.com/deleted_files

Note that those files won't be recoverable in any way (not even through our Support team) after you do this.

I hope this helps and please keep me posted on your progress.

loomy

well it is not a folder shared with other people

it is my camera uploads folder, wanted to remove the broken and bad photos but i am not able to. i perm deleted it from dropbox site as you instructed me, unsynced, synced my app, files were indexing for a long time... and it all remained there on the disk, nothing was removed

if i unsync, remove the whole folder, sync back, only the files i want will download right?

Walter

I see, thanks for the additional information @loomy!

Could you send me a screenshot of an example of this showing a file you deleted re-populating your Dropbox folder along with the desktop app's exact status so I can have a better look into this?

loomy

I am unable to sync it on this PC again. It was synced before, but now everytime i boot this PC it tries to sync 4000+ files and there is no progress.

Maybe the firewall is blocking it? Or some other system app

It was working perfectly on Win7, no on Win10 it's different..

Walter

Thanks for keeping me in the loop @loomy!

At this point, could you try re-installing the app on the affected computer and let me know the results?

If the issue persists, would it be OK with your if I reached out to your Dropbox associated email address to work on this together?

loomy

Yes of course you can message me to my email

Currently I reinstalled the app, set a different (empty) folder where everything is downloading. And I will see tomorrow If it's gonna sync or if it is going to get stuck like before.

Walter

Thanks for keeping me in the loop here @loomy!

If you're still experiencing this, please let me know and I'll create a ticket to work on this with you asap.

loomy

Everything is working nice now,

thank you Walter for walking me through this.

Re-installing to a new directory really helped.

No more dead files appearing now

Walter

I'm glad we managed to resolve this in the end @loomy; thanks for keeping me in the loop!

As always, we're always around and happy to help if you have any Dropbox questions in the future!

Have a wonderful weekend!