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Orange Minus what does the icon mean?

Hello-

A couple of days ago, my Dropbox files suddently had an orange minus sign and the content was unavailable. I Googled the symbol, and uninstalled OneDrive---without success. This may be associated with a problem I've had since starting Dropbox---I seem to have two accounts. When I Iog into Dropbox.com, I get one set of a few folders that I almost never use; that also happens after clearing my Firefox cache. On my file manager, when I save files, they go to a different Dropbox location that I can't access using Dropbox.com. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

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Hannah

Hey @JWMS, jumping in here as well, I hope that's okay!

Deleting the Dropbox folder from your snippet above, would cause your Dropbox folder to be deleted and along with it, all your Dropbox files and the backed up files, so please refrain from doing that.

If the files in your Dropbox folder are old and useless to you, you're welcome to delete those ones, and the deletion will sync to your account on dropbox.com.

But now, what needs to be done is basically up to you.

Do you want your desktop files to be backed up to Dropbox, so you can access a static copy on dropbox.com?

Or do you want to sync them? If you sync them, you'll be able to access and edit them both from your Dropbox folder and dropbox.com, whereas with Backup, you can just view them on dropbox.com, but not edit them.

If you'd like to sync them, they'll need to be added to your Dropbox folder, outside the PC folder.

To be safe, if you want to do this, I would suggest disabling the backup, so that your desktop folders are moved back to their original locations on your computer.

And then, you can move only the files you want to the Dropbox folder, to sync them to your account.

It's up to you, but I hope this helps!

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Walter

Hey there @JWMS, sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

Could you have a look at your account's settings online and also at the app's preferences under the Account tab and let me know if you can see the exact same email address on both places?

Let me know and we'll take it from there.

JWMS

Thanks, Walter-

I found the email address on Accounts, but not on Apps--this is what I saw:

(Note that you are dealing with a senior citizen that is not super computer-savy..........Thanks, JWMS

Rich

@JWMS wrote:
I found the email address on Accounts, but not on Apps

Walter is referring to the Dropbox app, not the Apps tab on the website.

https://help.dropbox.com/account-settings/change-preferences#account

JWMS

Sorry--there is no Dropbox icon on my Taskbar. When I want to my desktop, two Dropbox icons appear. The upper one gives me one set of folders (not the much larger set of folders I normally use), and the other one does nothing. See the snip below:

Also, when I go to Search, on my taskbar and click on the Dropbox app, nothing happens....

Thanks!
JWMS

Nancy

Hi @JWMS! I hope you're doing great.

What if you click on the "Open" button, as shown in your last screenshot? Do you see anything else then in your computer's system tray?

Also, when looking at your system tray (at the bottom part of your computer, close to clock settings), do you see any small arrows? If yes, please click there too, and let me know if you can see a small Dropbox icon now.

JWMS

Thanks, Nancy-

Nothing happens when I click "Open." I did click on location, and got:

Nothing on my system tray. The only "arrow" was the upward facing caret for hidden icons, but it was not there, either...............

I get the following when selecting "all apps"

Thanks for the help! JAYWMS

Nancy

Thanks for giving that a try!

If you haven’t already, I’d recommend reinstalling the Dropbox app on your computer at this point. To do so, please click on this link.

Do you see the small Dropbox icon in your system tray after that?

JWMS

Thank you, Nancy----that solved the larger of my two problems: the orange minus sign is gone, and I can access my files in Windows, especially my Word files that I use all the time.

However, when I log in to Dropbox using the icon in the task bar, or on-line via dropbox.com, I get an old file listing that apparently has not been updated in some time, and is a much-abbreviated version of my Windows file listing (that's also listing I get when I open Dropbox in Windows File Explorer). This may have something to do with my original non-paid version of Dropbox that my company set up.

Maybe related: I've been saving files in Documents, not Dropbox, since they seemed to disappear when I saved them in Dropbox. (see the snip below)

BTW: per an earlier suggestion in this thread, I checked the email address both from the taskbar icon and from dropbox.com and they are the same.

I would prefer to delete the account with the abbreviated, outdated list of files, and have Dropbox retain the larger set of files I get in Windows explorer.

Thank you for your help!

Megan

Hi @JWMS, can you share your app's syncing status at the moment, along with some screenshots of some example files as you see them locally, versus what you see when you visit your account online?

JWMS

Thanks, Megan-

Current status is shown below:

[Removed as per Community Guidelines]

Files shown locally are:

[Removed as per Community Guidelines]

Files from online are shown below---however, they are the same as the local ones and they are not what I want....

[Removed as per Community Guidelines]

These are the files that I routinely use that are on my computer and also on Dropbox:

[Removed as per Community Guidelines]

Here is a screenshot when I search for a particular file:

[Removed as per Community Guidelines]

Hope all of this is helpful !

Thanks, JWMS

Jay

HI @JWMS, I've removed all your images since they contain a lot of personal and confidential information.

It looks like you have enabled the Dropbox Backup feature, since the Documents folder appears to be in your account and syncing. You can view the backup on this page.

Just to check, is this the account you want to sync with your desktop, or do you have another account with more files in it?

JWMS

Thanks--and thanks for removing my personal information. The files I saw when I clicked on the "this page" in your note are indeed what I want to keep. However, when I open my account on dropbox.com, or click on Dropbox in File Explorer, I get a different set of files, which I do not want. Could you please delete (or guide me to delete) the account that has those files, and help me get to the files shown in "this page" when I go to Dropbox?

Thanks!JWMS

Megan

Hi @JWMS, let me make sure we're on the same page here.

First of all, keep in mind that if you delete your Dropbox account, your Backup will also get deleted.

It's not entirely clear to me if you wish to delete all of your other files, and keep your Backup. Is that what you wish to achieve?

If you access your account online, and you click under PC < Documents, are you able to see the content you need there?

JWMS

Thanks, Megan- We are getting there. When I go to dropbox.com, I see a new folder that is "PC-New location" and that folder has all the files I have been trying to access. I don't need to delete any accounts.

However, File Manager on my PC doesn't seem to have that folder. A screenshot is given below. On that screenshot, I've been saving my files on the top of the three "Documents" locations---is that the correct thing to do and does it make a difference?

Jay

Could you attach a screenshot showing the place you saw this PC on the site? Is it on the Backups page?

JWMS

Thanks-

This is an overall screenshot when I go to dropbox.com

This is the screenshot when I click on the "backups page" screenshot you sent. When I click on the PC icon, I do get the all the files I'm looking for.

I appreciate the help. Thanks, JWMS

Walter

Hey @JWMS, sorry to jump in here, but I wanted to clarify that your first screenshot shows the contents of your Dropbox folder which is syncing with the website as you see while the second screenshot shows your backed up files.

The first set of files are the ones that are syncing in your Dropbox folder and you can work on them in your Dropbox folder to have the changes sync across all your connected devices and the website too.

The second set of files are your backed up files which are a static copy of the files as they were when you first backed them up until you choose to manually update them.

The real question here would be; what are you looking to achieve here? Back your files up to Dropbox or have them syncing via the Dropbox apps and website?

JWMS

Thanks, Walter-

I want Sync---------I've looked at several tutorials and it seems I automatically get backup on the files I've chosen to sync??? Backup would only be used for other files that are static that I don't need to sync -- such as my Desktop?

What's confusing me is that, when I select the Documents (highlighted in the snip below) to file a document, I get everything I want, and I get that same material when I go to dropbox.com and select the "PC" file, (but the heading says "PC Backup"). When I select Dropbox in the snip below, I get the subset that is old material I do not need and the desired files are not there - it is just the static backup. My solution has been to never place files in Dropbox, just in Documents in the snip. Would it be best if I just deleted the Dropbox in that snip?

Related: When I search for a file on my computer, I seem to have the file and a backup---see below. Does that mean I'm doing both Backup and Sync?

And- on Dropbox on-line, when I select in the list of files, the header says "PC backup".

Sorry for all my confusion JWMS

Hannah

Hey @JWMS, jumping in here as well, I hope that's okay!

If the files in your Dropbox folder are old and useless to you, you're welcome to delete those ones, and the deletion will sync to your account on dropbox.com.

But now, what needs to be done is basically up to you.

Do you want your desktop files to be backed up to Dropbox, so you can access a static copy on dropbox.com?

If you'd like to sync them, they'll need to be added to your Dropbox folder, outside the PC folder.

To be safe, if you want to do this, I would suggest disabling the backup, so that your desktop folders are moved back to their original locations on your computer.

And then, you can move only the files you want to the Dropbox folder, to sync them to your account.

It's up to you, but I hope this helps!

JWMS

Thanks--the link showed how to delete Backups, and I think I just want to disable backup. However, this thread has solved my main problem (minus sign in orange box, unable to access files) by having me reinstall Dropbox. For the questions of file locations, etc. I'll get my grandson to help me. (Will all of the suggestions and responses be available to me for a few weeks?) Dropbox might consider a program "Dropbox for Seniors" which would be simpler for someone who is not a techie---kind of like the Jitterbug phone vs. an IPhone...........

You have all been very responsive---------thanks! JWMS

Hannah

Deleting the backups basically means disabling them in this case, but thanks for your feedback, @JWMS!

We appreciate all your comments and I will inform the team about your thoughts.

I'm glad this thread solved a part of the issue and, of course, it will remain here and all the info will be available.

You can also reply back at any time, if you need anything else!