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Dropbox Backup automatically creates folders under folders under folders ad infinitum

On my Macbook I once asked Dropbox to do backup of my Documents folder. What it did was to create a folder called "My files in Dropbox" and put all of my files under this folder. But under My files in Dropbox, it also created a folder named "Files on my computer". And under Files on my computer are "My files in Dropbox" AND another copy of all (or some, I am not sure, but many) of my files in Documents. This goes on ad infinitum it seems. These files take up all the storage of my laptop.

I've already contacted Dropbox Support three times via live chat (I have a paid subscription plan) but received no solution so far. Anyone else with the same problem? Did you find a solution?

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Nancy

Really sorry to hear this, @tuongvan.

Can you send me your ticket numbers, so that I can take a look?

I’d also a screenshot of what you see on your Backups page here.

Ping me, when you’re ready.

crismelo

I have the same problem. After I started using dropbox, it created extra folders on my laptop and now my laptop is super slow and complainign of lack of space. Why does it do it? Now neither dropbox backup can finish its works for the lack of space nor I can continue my work. How can I solve this situation?

Nancy

Hi @crismelo, how much available space does your hard drive report now? Can you send over a screenshot of what you see?

I’d also like to know the current syncing status and app version of your Dropbox app.

crismelo

Thanks you Nancy for getting back to me. I am uploading files to dropbox and deleting them from my laptop, the only wat to get my laptop working, I freed 4 GB. It goes super slowly, perhaps you can see my activity at your end. Before I transfer and delete more files, I am doing a search and that is taking hours. I had 7GB free on my C drive, and that is the actual status of my sync. I go for dinner now, I will be back in 2 or 3 hours.

Hannah

Hey @crismelo, can you please hover over your Dropbox icon and let us know the version of the app installed on your computer?

crismelo

Hello Hanna, I hovered, but I could not get the version. Does this print screen help?

tuongvan

Hi Nancy, thanks for your reply. I've already sent the tech support staff a few screenshots. But still no solution from them...

Hannah

Thanks for the screenshots, @crismelo!

Can you give us some more info on the extra folders that you mentioned that Dropbox created? What kind of folders are they?

And @tuongvan, can you please give us the ticket number for your communication with our support team, so we can take a look as well?

crismelo

Hello Hannah, this is a screenshot of the many folders that Dropbox created. My laptop is stuck; I can barely use it. Uploading files to Dropbox to delete them from my laptop goes exceptionally slowly. I don't know how to sort this situation. I am puzzled because yesterday I freed 7GB, and now my laptop says it has less than 1 GB; I believe Dropbox backup claims every space I make it free. this is a nightmare. Please help me. One question: I am moving folders inside Dropbox, not backup. When I deleted them from my laptop, I got this message:

Can you confirm that it will be deleted from my backup folders but remain inside Dropbox in a normal folder I just uploaded? Super important question.

Here the screenshot of dropbox on my C drive: Message I am getting very often:

Nancy

Hey again, @crismelo! When deleting folders from your laptop, can you clarify which folder they’re currently located in, when you delete them? Are you deleting them from your local Dropbox folder, after uploading them, or from another folder?

In general, keep in mind that any changes you make to your backed up folders, they'll also sync to Dropbox online, as these folders are connected to Dropbox like your local Dropbox folder is.

If you want to add folders to your Dropbox account, but want to remove them from your local device so that they don’t take up extra space, then I’d suggest using selective sync instead. You’ll still be able to access everything online this way, plus you'll free up your local storage.

If I’ve misunderstood something though, let me know.

crismelo

Hello Nancy,

If I understood well, in this scenario:

- folder AA and files BB.doc are connected to Dropbox backup, with sync on

- I created in my Dropbox account one folder called Laptop 2024

- I uploaded the folder AA and file BB.doc into the folder Dropbox Laptop 2024

- I deleted the folder AA and file BB.doc from my local C drive

in this case, will Dropbox delete folder AA and file BB.doc from the folder Dropbox Laptop 2024?

Please answer a Yes or No to this scenario.

Nancy

In short, no it shouldn’t.

In this scenario, you’re basically having two copies of the same files on Dropbox; one in the original backup folder and a copy that you create later on within your local Dropbox folder (inside the “Laptop 2024 folder”).

If you delete the AA folder and BB.doc from the original backup location, this shouldn't affect the copy you have in “Laptop 2024” within your Dropbox folder (since these are two separate copies).

Hope this clarifies things a bit more.

tuongvan

Hi, the ticket number is 23417212. Thanks for looking into it.

crismelo

Team,

I am still struggling with my laptop. I have paused the sync, but Dropbox still uses all the space I make free. What will happen if I simply delete the Dropbox folder on my laptop?

Nancy

Thanks for the ticket number, @tuongvan! I can see our specialized team is already handling your case, so I’ve left them an internal note for you too.

@crismelo, if you wish to delete the local Dropbox folder and not affect your files online, you’ll need to disable computer backup and log out of the desktop app first.

crismelo

It seems that dropbox has encrypted my files in my C drive.

Hannah

Hey again, @crismelo.

We're going to need some additional info on that; what do you mean by 'encrypted'? Are you getting an error when trying to open your desktop files?

crismelo

Hello team,

Can you please help me to clean up the Dropbox backup from my local C drive?

I have followed the instructions.

Can I now delete this Dropbox folder without impacting my local files?

dropbox 2.jpg

I have deleted the backup option and logged off from the Dropbox app. Here is the actual status:

Megan

Hey @crismelo, if you've disabled your Backup, and signed out or uninstalled the Dropbox app, then you can make any changes you want locally, without impacting your files online.

Just make sure to keep a copy of the content you might need to keep locally on your device.

crismelo

Please team help me!

I had 5GB free in my C drive and now is 121 MB. I have unistall dropbox, but I have accessed Dropbox to ensure my files are still in Dropbox. What do I need to do to stop Dropbox taking space on my C drive? Please answer me before my laptop stop working for good.

Megan

Hi @tuongvan, did you have any issues when trying to remove your Dropbox content locally?