Child Item

Unable to restore Dropbox Backup on wiped hard drive

A couple of weeks ago, I made a back-up of all my files using the Dropbox Backup service. When I did this, all of the files were successfully synced, and the backup was complete. Last week, my computer’s hard disk (the same one I did the backup from) was wiped and my computer was reinstalled. After installing and logging into dropbox on the same computer (but reinstalled and with the wiped hard disk), I could not see nor restore my back-up from the app. I went online and there I could see my back-up. However, I couldn’t restore it from that page, only click on download, which results in an error message saying "Attempted to zip too many files” as it is more than 300GB.

I can still see my back-up online, but with ‘folder issues’ and the message "Needs review". However, I cannot ‘review’ anything, nor download or restore my back-up.

I want my important files back on my computer, as this is why I pay Dropbox a monthly fee: to be able to store and restore my files safely and securely. I can see it’s still there, why can’t I get it back to my computer?

Find more posts tagged with

Accepted answers

Jay

In this case, you should be able to download your files in the Dropbox Backup by downloading them in batches, since the zip files are too large as you discovered.

All comments

Jay

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

Are you not able to restore the Dropbox Backup using the following steps in this article?

This will help me to assist further!

davidgeerts

Hi Jay,

No, unfortunately that doesn't work. It did not prompt me to restore from my backup after I installed Dropbox again on my reinstalled computer. I can also not see boxes to check next to folders I would like to download, I only see my backup listed on the Dropbox Backup page but cannot see details or select anything. It's also not deleted, as I can see it's there, albeit with 'folder issues', so it's not in my deleted files.

I hope this helps to resolve the issues and get my backup back.

Thanks!

David

Jay

Thanks for the info, in order to look into this matter in more detail, I'd recommend contacting the support team directly for them to investigate further.

davidgeerts

Hi Jay,

I did, and they were unable to help me. As this was a dead-end, I am trying to see if I could get any help here. This seems to be my last resort to get my files back. Surely, it should be possible to get my files as I can still see them listed in my backup page?

Jay

In this case, you should be able to download your files in the Dropbox Backup by downloading them in batches, since the zip files are too large as you discovered.

davidgeerts

Hi Jay,

I was finally able to get to my files and download them in batches! I would like to add however that it is very counterintuitive where to find the individual files and folders of my backup. From the backup page I couldn't access them, even though I saw the backup listed. But when I did a search I found one of the files within the folder structure and could go up to the main backed-up folder. It would have saved me a lot of time and stress if this was clear from the start!

Thanks for your support!

David

Theresa

Hi @davidgeerts and welcome to the Dropbox Community 👋. I am delighted to see that you have been able to download and access your files once again thanks to our amazing @Jay 's help 🎉🙌🕺.

By the way, I’m Theresa, a Community Manager here at Dropbox HQ 👩‍💻. If you're open to sharing, I’d love to hear how you use Dropbox daily and which features you rely on. We might be able to share tips to boost your productivity 👨‍💻✨!

Looking forward to hearing from you,

T 😸 (Dropbox Community Manager)