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Support request. Delete files that 'couldn't be deleted'

Hello,

I have a folder of tens of thousands of files that I am unable to delete. I tried deleting this on my local device (Mac OS 12.6.7) but my Dropbox client has been unresponsive. I have tried to delete this folder via the web client and received a 'couldn't be deleted' message. There are no shared folders connected to this folder. There are no other clients connected to this folder. I am currently over the 300,000 file limit and am trying to lower the number of files I have stored.

I see in previous forum messages a Dropbox support person has had to be contacted to delete 'stuck' files like this. Can I please be put in touch with a Dropbox support person to delete these files?

Thank you.

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Jay

Hi again, just try contacting the team via chat to see if they're able to assist you from there, if you're unable to submit a ticket.

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Jay

Hi @jaohar, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Could you attach a screenshot showing the exact error message you're getting when deleting the folder?

Could you try quitting the Dropbox desktop application and then delete a folder, then run the app again to sync the deletion?

Keep me updated with any progress!

jaohar

Here is the message I get via the web client. My Mac Dropbox client can no longer sync and just gets stuck. I've left it to run overnight with no progress. I've quit it and unlinked it.

Screen Shot 2023-06-23 at 10.39.56 am.png

I'm not currently running any other Dropbox clients. And now the problem appears to be that I can't delete any files via the web client.

Thank you.

Jay

Are you able to delete a subfolder and then gradually delete files in batches to see if this helps?

jaohar

No. I am not able to delete folders or individual files. I get the same error message.

I recently deleted many thousands of files and this problem emerged during that process.

Walter

Hey @jaohar, sorry to jump in, but could you try clearing your browser's cache or using another browser to delete your files and let us know how it goes?

If you still get an error, we'd appreciate a full-page screenshot as well.

jaohar

I used another browser and had the same result.

I've just seen that a critical folder with many essential files has been deleted. I did not delete this folder. I've tried to restore this folder via the web client but an error message says that this is not possible. I hope a support person can restore these files for me. Can I please have someone help me restore these files as soon as possible?

jaohar

More specifically, when I select the option 'join folder again' I get the message 'could not complete this request'.

Walter

Were you the owner of this folder @jaohar ?

Can you maybe restore it from the events page?

jaohar

Hello, that first link does not work for me. I have thousands of items on the events page and am unable to find the missing folder.

Can I please be put in contact with a support person to restore this missing folder?

Walter

You can reach out to our support team through this page and ask for further assistance @jaohar

Once you do this and get a ticket ID from our system, you can share it with us here so that we can look it up as well if needed.

jaohar

Hello,

I can't complete this form because I don't have a valid restoration link. Can you please tell me how to proceed?

I remember now that I disconnected this folder from sharing and for some reason this action deleted the folder. Same as the cases below.

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Delete-edit-and-organize/Unshared-folders-and-files-marked-as-deleted/td-p/392569

https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Delete-edit-and-organize/The-folder-I-unshared-was-deleted-and-I-want-to-rewind-it-but/td-p/558639

Jay

Hi again, just try contacting the team via chat to see if they're able to assist you from there, if you're unable to submit a ticket.

jaohar

Thank you. I contacted support and now this is resolved.

Please add a note to whatever bug tracking software Dropbox uses that this is an unresolved issue.

Thierry3

I had the same issue but accessing dropbox support has been a pain and it took a long time before they helped as the first level support is not aware of the issue