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Cannot Delete Backup

LutherH

I did a full computer backup and my dropbox is full. I cannot delete the back up file. Suggestions?

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Daphne

Hi there @LutherH, I hope you're doing well!

You'll need to disable the computer backup feature first, which you can do with the steps outlined towards the bottom of this article.

In step 6, you'll need to choose the keep the files on your computer, rather than in Dropbox, and the files will be automatically removed from your Dropbox account.

Let me know how it goes!

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Hannah

Hey @Guilherme_Maito, sorry to see you're having this issue.

Can you confirm that you tried to delete your backup files from the backups page online and are unable to?

If so, can we send you an email, so we can look into this?

jdaisyd

Hi there, The instructions on this answer I think are no longer relevant? Its seems the "map" of the online version and the app don't line up with this anymore.

How do I delete my backup folder contents?

Thank you Jess

Jay

Hi @jdaisyd, just to clarify, are you trying delete the backup, or disable the computer backup entirely?

jdaisyd

Delete the back up- dropbox had backed up my external hard drive ( I don't remember telling it to do so) and it effectively made my account unusable for space. However all the folders in the Back up (Called Backup Plus?) were not deletable, and so I couldn't free up space.

Jay

What happens if you attempt to delete the backup from the site directly?

jdaisd

I've tried that multiple times also...and it sends you to the app.. so I

Tried unlinking app account first too, but it cycles back to the app and starts the app all over again.

It all just goes round and round in a circle.

As I don't use Dropbox to store anything, but share files. I decided the only option was to delete my account completely and start over. So that's what I did. I didn't have time to do any more figuring, on a deadline to get these files out...

Confused8

That article was about how to set up a backup. I don't have any backups set up, but I had mistakenly set one up previously. Now I am over my limit for Basic, so I want to delete the backup that I made in error. From the article, How to Delete Dropbox Backup, it says to click on Sync and Backups tab. That tab does not appear. Only Sync History and Activity tabs appear, so I can't get to the window where you delete the backup.

Nancy

Hey @Confused8.

Had you enabled computer backup at some point (for your Desktop/Documents/Downloads folders) or external drive backup instead?

Feel free to send over a screenshot of the options you see, as well, if you don't mind.

Confused8

I must have enabled a backup by mistake. That's what got me into trouble.

Nancy

Thanks for the screenshot, @Confused8!

Can you also visit your Backups page here, and send me one more visual of what you see there?

Confused8

Here it is. Can I delete the files here? Dropbox 2.jpg

Hannah

Hey @Confused8, sorry to jump in here.

If you click on the three dots (ellipsis) next to the backups, do you see an option to delete them?

Also, to see the steps that you mentioned above, after clicking on your Dropbox icon, you need to click on your profile pic and then on 'preferences'; that should allow you to follow the deletion steps as well.

Confused8

Clicking on the 3 dots worked like a charm. I'm all set and Thanks for your help.

BTW, I later tried your second suggestion, but it didn't work. There was no Preferences to click, but it had Settings. I tried all the areas in Settings, but there were none to delete files.

Thanks again. I'm now in the clear.