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Missing Version History

Omar Azman

I have a file that suddenly lost all its data and version history! what should i do ?

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Hannah

Sorry to jump in here, @Omar Azman!

Can we send you an email, so we can look into this a bit more closely?

All comments

Mark

How do you mean 'lost' ? Unless you are a paying user history is only available for 30 days and after that wont show.

Omar Azman

I mean the file does not load and seems like it got damaged. I am not a subscribed user but i have been using dropbox for years and this never happend.

Is there a way to restore my file ?!

Walter

Hey @Omar Azman, sorry to jump in, but can you clarify what you mean that the file does not load?

Are you getting a particular error when you try to preview it? If so, a screenshot would be very helpful!

Also, do you see any actions on this file logged in your events page?

Omar Azman

Screen Shot 2022-09-21 at 3.19.47 PM.png

Omar Azman

Events page lists every change i made to the file but when i click on any of the highlighted files, i get the same result.

Walter

Could you try clearing your browser's cache or another browser and let me know how it goes @Omar Azman?

Omar Azman

Same result. The thing is i have another gsheet file that opens normally and has been on my account for a long time too!

Nancy

I hope it’s OK if I jump in, as well, Omar.

Can you also follow the steps in this Help Center article and send me a screenshot of what you see, if you try to restore a previous version of your file?

Omar Azman

Hello all,

I deleted cache and still same. Version history is shown but all of them seem to give the same result as well.

One thing is strange, when i open from the computer the size is 200 KB but frm the mbile it indicates that size is 25 MB.

I do not know how to retrieve it and honestly do not mind sharing access with an expert as this file i have been working on for years! I am no tech expert apparently.

Omar Azman

This is the view from my mobile

Omar Azman

hey guys! can any one help ??

Omar Azman

I checked activity. It was never deleted and the last edit was in May and then no change at all.

Walter

Can you clarify when exactly were the last couple of edits you see in your events page?

Is it possible that when you were saving the changes on this file, it was overwriting the file?

Also, where are you editing the file from exactly? Do you see any other versions that you can restore from there?

Any additional information you can find is more than welcome @Omar Azman

Omar Azman

As i said the last edits were in May and unfortunately none are clickable. I was using the file as i always did, nothing different happend. Is it possible that the file simply got damaged or lost in the database ?!

Walter

When you say you were using the file as always, were you using any particular third party apps or integrations with Dropbox perhaps, Omar?

Omar Azman

No i just open it from my dropbox folder using gsheet.

Hannah

Sorry to jump in here, @Omar Azman!

Can we send you an email, so we can look into this a bit more closely?

Omar Azman

[email address removed per the Dropbox Community Guidelines]

Hannah

Thanks! I just sent you an email, so make sure to get back to me when you get a chance.

Tony H

Did this ever get sorted? One of my Excel files that I edit nearly every day has rerverted to a version 4 months old. No versions are avaiable after this despite me accessing the file many times in the meantime.

Jay

Hi @Tony H, did you access the file via the Dropbox site, or on your local machine? Was the Dropbox desktop application syncing or paused?

Tony H

I have been accessing this file regularly via my PC Dropbox. My wife also accesses it on Dropbox on her PC. The file has been regularly syncing.

My PC crashed yesterday which I assume caused the problem. As I access this file every couple of days there should have been many copies on the version history but the only version there is one I saved 4 months ago! There is also no mention of this file on my activity history.

Nancy

Thanks for the extra info, Tony.

Out of curiosity, is your wife seeing the exact same thing now on her end, as well?

If she visits www.dropbox.com, is she also unable to see the recent versions of this Excel file?

Omar Azman

No it was never solved and i just had to give it up. No idea what happend to my file which had a good couple of years worth of work.

Tony H

Yes, all her version history is the same as mine

Jay

If there is nothing on the events page for the last 4 months, then it means this specific file was never syncing to the Dropbox site. This also means there is nothing to recover the file, even on our end.

I'm aware that Office programs have a backup feature in them, if enabled. Do you have a backup of your Excel file in order to recover the data?

Tony H

Thanks Jay.

It must have been syncing over the last 4 months or we wouldn't have both been able to access it over that time. The loss must be on Dropbox.

No Office backups available.

Jay

Thanks for the info. Without any version history for that file on the site, and you're certain that there's no other copy of the file on your account, it wouldn't be possible to recover the previous version of the file on our end.

We're sorry we can't be more helpful on this matter.

Tony H

Does that mean I can no longer trust Dropbox to keep my files safe?

Omar Azman

As far as i know, i think it is better to have a back-up installed on your device. It seems that my error was something they did not anticipate and did not really know how to fix it. It happens in the digital world i guess, although it still annoys me to this day. Better safe than sorry.