Deleted folders keep reappearing. What can I do?

Many thanks to the Dropbox team - especially Walter for helping me resolve this issue. In my case one fo the 9 sharers of a top level folder was adding back a multi layered sub folder, containing no files, each time the administrator attempted to delete it. All sharers told me that they had attempted to delete the reappearing folder........drilling down by the DB team revealed the culprit who hadnt actually made an attempt to delete but merely said he had! Deletion done and all fixed.....woohoo, champagne celebration! but....

How do you fault find without using the DB team in this case? Two options: make use of Event History and Version History. Using event history showed where I had attempted to delete the folder but did not show who added it back. Version history would not have worked as it only applies to actual files and not folders (this folder structure contained no files). I would suggest adding in a file, delete the folder structure, if it all reappears then check the version history of the individual file - it should show you deleting it and then should reveal who is adding it back. Note the use of "should"! What seems clear is that there are numerous ways that this "reappearing ghost" problem can be solved. Perhaps DB could set up a really detailed help page, that can be easily found, that covers all the myriad permutations of this challenging problem.

Once again - big thank you to the DB team for their prompt and detailed assistance. GuyM

All comments

Russell R.1 - Do you really think that we are that stupid?????? we have deleted via the browser, we have unsynced and resynced our devices, we have added a file then tried to delete the folder only for an empty folder to come back, we have done all this in the browser on every machine (across 3 continents!) and still the sub folders reappear. They are not the root shared folder and as the admin of this shared folder I cannot delete and empty the folder (with empty sub folders) on any device or from the browser. I have systematically gone through all the solution over the nine pages of this thread and have found no workable solution. The only thing that save my sanity is that I have selectively unsynced the offending folder from my own devices......but all that does is hide the offender from my sight - it does not solve the problem! Dropbox FFS solve this would you.

Hey @GuyM1, welcome to the Dropbox Forum & thanks for posting us in regards to the issue you’ve experienced with your deleted folders re-appearing.

You may keep in mind that I’ve moved your comments from the previous discussion, as this started back to 2015 & we like to keep up with the most recent interactions. In case you’d like to refer back to it, you may have a look here.

From this point on, let me briefly wrap-up the behavior you’ve experienced, so as to take it from where you’ve left off from the troubleshooting you’ve done on your own.

To my understanding, you’re working on a shared folder & when you’re deleting it from the website (or across your devices perchance?) this still appears on other users’ accounts. You may keep in mind that this is the intended behavior, since deleting a shared folder causes it to move to an inactive state for the person who deleted it only, in order to not affect other users who may still want to use the folder. If you wish to remove a shared folder for all users, the owner of the folder needs to ‘Unshare' the folder.

Please let me know in your next reply whether this clarifies the behavior you’ve been encountering or you’re experiencing a different issue, in order to follow-up with you as closely as possible. Any additional detail (eg. screenshots indicating the discrepancy) you could include would be extremely helpful in sending you the most relevant next steps.

Once again, thanks for posting us here for assistance & I’ll be awaiting your next reply. Happy Monday!

Norah

Hey @GuyM1, hope you're doing great!

Just checking in with you to see if you had the time to check @Jane's steps provided.

Thanks in advance for your reply!

Hi Jane and Norah, Sorry for the delay but I was away for a few days. Many thanks for your responses but the issue is still not resolved. To clarify the problem: I am the owner of a shared folder inside which are three main folders (each with a very large number of sub folders). I wish to delete one of the folders which was a drag and drop error by a user at some point. There are 5 layers of sub folders in this folder but no files in any of these sub folders. The 9 sharers have all attempted to remove the folder from our devices and I have repeatedly attempted to delete from the website as the administrator, yet it still reappears. I do not want to unshare the top level if at all possible but to merely delete this one folder and it's subs. I can see no way of unsharing this lower level (second tier) folder - if there is please put me out of my extended misery!

Norah

Hey @GuyM1,

Sorry to hear that the issue is not resolved.

Let’s try one more thing together. Remove the folder in question from your computer, then see if the folder reappears. If the issue persists this means it may be triggered by a third party application, local network sharing or folder redirection preferences setup in the problematic folders within your Dropbox. This usually happens if other people in the local network could be accessing the same data.

In order to thoroughly investigate with all our tools available you can follow up via email here.

Once you send us a ticket, please include the ID here and I will make sure that a colleague gets on it as soon as possible.

Thanks for your patience working through this with me!

I have repeatedly tried deleting via the computer ever since this issued appeared almost a year ago but to no avail. There are 2 other users on the local network each of whom has tried to delete as well. The overseas sharers have also tried and nothing has worked.

I have emailed as suggested and look forward to some help. All the best and have a great weekend!

Norah

Thanks for the prompt reply @GuyM1!

I have located your open request on our system and it will be handled by a higher level of Support asap. In case you have any further inquiries, let me know here and I'll check back with you.

Have a wonderful weekend ahead!:rainbow:

Once again - big thank you to the DB team for their prompt and detailed assistance. GuyM

Walter

Thank you for your kind reply Guy - I am glad we could figure this out together.

In any case, I wanted you to know that I have gathered all of your feedback in regards to this issue and I will be passing them along to our dev team for consideration - thank you for that!

Once again I am happy we sorted this out and note that you can always reach out to us on any of our official support channels with any questions you might have. We'll be glad to assist in any possible way.

Have a lovely day!

HK J.

I'm sorry, but we just SHOULD NOT have to go thru all this to DELETE pix.

Hey @HK J., I understand that being unable to understand the source of this discrepancy at a glance may not be ideal, however kindly note that Dropbox would merely reflect your changes to your account online. Nonetheless, rest assured that I'm here to help you determine what's happening as much as I can on my end!

To re-iterate Guy's post on the previous page, kindly note that there could be a device running an application which is using the content that’s re-appearing on your Dropbox account. Alternatively, 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 back on whether any of my pointers applies, you can look at the Version History of some example file names (tip: it’s on the on the 💬 of the file in question) in the folder that will point you towards the device or application that last accessed the files in the share/ plain folder.

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 computer to stop it from reappearing in your Dropbox.

Please do let me know how you get on with my hints on this discussion & I’ll do my best to check back with you. Thanks again & I'll be awaiting your next post!

When we delete or rename a folder it comes back. It doesn't matter what computer or if we are on the website, If the folder is renamed, or moved within hours or the next day both the old folder and the new folder reappear. Or if we simply delete a folder it also comes back. There are hunderes of folders that have been moved, renamed or deleted and keep reappearing. So frustrating and time consuming, how can we stop this from happening?

Здравко

Hi @LisaMVIP,

Let me guess: You try rename/move folders in online only mode...? This is known problem and you already have done the possible: One more voice!

billiesoniq

I'm experiencing this problem as well.

Hey @LisaMVIP & @billiesoniq, I have now made sure to move your posts under this ongoing conversation, as the hints we’ve posted here with Walter have resolved the OP’s inquiry. Would you mind checking those out whenever you have a bit of spare time & let us know here if you have any follow-up questions?

Thanks & I’m looking forward to hearing back from you!

Hi Jane, I am reading through the responses where you have moved this post and I'm not seeing an answer to our problem? Please direct me to where they might be or if you can provide some assistance it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks for the speedy message back @LisaMVIP; I moved your post here in hopes that my previous reply above helps you shed some light, however I’d happily re-iterate for convenience’ sake!

Essentially Lisa this probably happens because there’s an application/service that’s accessing the previous version of the file elsewhere thus “locking” the file name that you’re trying to change & the Version History should help you gain some insight on the possible cause.

Would you mind checking out how my advice works for you whenever you have a bit of spare time & let me know of your findings in your next reply? Thanks!

Jane,

Thank you for your quick response. The link included that you would like me to review says Error (4xx) and directs me back to a general help page. Very frustrated we have been hung up on...or "accidently disconected" more than 8 times in the past month and the escalation team has stopped responding twice. Like I mentioned we have hundreds of files that have been deleted and keep being added that need to be cleaned up and thousands more files that need to be added. We are stuck here waiting for anyone to help so we can get this cleaned up before our busy time begins in 2 weeks.

Thank you

Lisa

I appreciate all the extra details on this matter @LisaMVIP!

For starters, I've made sure to amend the wrong link on the post above now, so it should be working as expected.

Sorry to hear about the technical issues that may have arised as you were discussing that with live Support Lisa, I could see that you’ve now been actively working to resolve the issue you’ve described me with our higher-level technicians through our Official Support channel, where you’ve made some progress. Kindly note that your best bet at the moment would be gathering all relevant details under this same email chain, as our team specialists have already gained some insight on the issue you’re facing.

While I’ve now made sure to include a copy of your comments & I’ve increased your support priority internally, I remain at your entire disposal should you need more help from me in any way. Thanks for bearing with us as we're working to address this issue!

Good morning Jane, we are still looking for some help to resolve this issue. Nothing suggested has worked or helped fix the problem yet. Looking forward to hearing from the support team you mentioned.

Thanks,

Lisa

sncooper_work

Deleted files keep coming back seconds after I delete them.

The files are in a folder I am sharing from another user.

The other user has to delete the files.

I have edit/delete permission so it should (and normally) works.

Any one have any ideas?

Hey @sncooper_work, thanks for taking the time to drop us a line here!

I’ve moved your post on this thread, in order to ping you on the pointers we’ve posted with Walter. Specifically, my previous message to HK J. here might help you paint a clearer picture & guide you on the best follow-up steps.

Please let me know how you get on with this or if you have more questions for me!

Thanks Jane, I looked at the Version History.

I saw that the file was created by me.

I saw that I deleted the file.

I saw that "Corporate Laptop" 'added' the file back.

I read your comments about some other process maybe locking the file preventing it from being deleted - how do I track this down? Because I had no applications open.

I tried deleting the files whilst the "Corporate laptop" was turned off, but they came right back when I booted it back up and logged in.

I have no idea what else to try - what could be locking these?

By the way, my Dropbox is on my C: drive, not a network share.

Here is a screenshot of my version history for a dummy file I created to test: version history.PNG

I have a new problem:

I edited an existing word document on my home computer (in the shared dropbox folder) and as soon as I clicked save my corporate laptop got a 'blue screen of death' and it happens every time I login again.

We had to put the computer into airplane mode and uninstall dropbox !!!

We uninstalled and reinstalled, and deleted the dropbox folder but it keeps happening.

Not good.

Any suggestions?

It says BAD_POOL_CALLER