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I had linked my Apple ID to a now deleted Dropbox account and I can't use it to create a new one.

Dear Dropbox Support Team,

I previously used Dropbox and had linked my account to my Apple ID. However, I deleted that account years ago. Since then, I’ve been unable to create a new account on iOS using “Sign in with Apple” or link my Apple ID to an account with the same email address. Every attempt results in an error message with ERROR 500, even when I try different email addresses or use Apple’s “Hide My Email” feature.

It seems my Apple ID is now completely unable to use Dropbox, which is causing significant disruptions to my workflow. I would appreciate any guidance on resolving this issue.

Thank you for your support!

Best regards,

HuaDeity

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Nancy

Thanks for your post, @HuaDeity_!

Can you try the steps provided here and then attempt to create a new Dropbox account again?

Let me know if you’re still having the same issue after that.

HuaDeity_

Yeah, I tried multiple times and it still not working. Just the same ERROR message.

Jay

Hi @HuaDeity_, I’d recommend getting in contact with our support team directly to look into this matter in more detail.

You can do this by opening an incognito/private browsing window, while not signed into any account, and accessing this link.
From there you should be able to contact support. Make sure to pick an email to which you can receive and send emails from.

HuaDeity_

I just submitted my issue through the link and am waiting for a response. Thanks so much for your support!

HuaDeity_

I’ve contacted Dropbox Enhanced Support via email, as well as Apple Support. It seems there might be a potential bug in Dropbox’s authentication system. Dropbox Enhanced Support has kindly forwarded this issue to their engineering team and recommended that I also share my feedback here.

Description:

I've encountered an issue when using "Sign in with Apple" to create or log in to Dropbox accounts. Specifically, once a Dropbox account linked with an Apple account is deleted, the same Apple account becomes permanently unusable for signing into Dropbox—even if using a different email address provided by Apple's "Hide My Email" feature.

According to the [Apple Developer Documentation](https://developer.apple.com/documentation/signinwithapple), "Sign in with Apple" utilizes a unique, stable identifier (user identifier) rather than an email address for authentication purposes. This identifier is:

Unique and consistent across all apps within the same Apple Developer team
Persistent, meaning it doesn't change if the user temporarily stops using Sign in with Apple
Intended as the primary user identifier instead of the email address

Given this information, it appears that Dropbox's system might still be associating this permanent Apple account identifier with previously deleted ("dead") Dropbox accounts. Consequently, users cannot reuse their Apple account to access Dropbox again, even with entirely different email addresses.

Impact: This issue significantly affects users who might want to delete and recreate their Dropbox accounts using Sign in with Apple. After account deletion, their Apple ID becomes permanently blocked from future Dropbox account creation or login.

I've reproduced this behavior using different Apple accounts, confirming it's not an isolated incident.

Request: Please investigate and address this issue, as it could widely impact user experience and account accessibility.

Thank you!

HuaDeity_

@Nancy @Jay

Would it be okay to share the potential bug feedback here, or would you recommend that I open a new discussion instead?

Thanks!

Megan

Hey @HuaDeity_ I hope you're doing well!

You can definitely share it here with us. Since you have an escalated case, I'd recommend you also share your thoughts with our team via email in order for them to note it or see what they can do on their end.

If you need something else, please let me know and I will be more than happy to help every step of the way.

HuaDeity_

Hey@"Megan"

I don’t know if I miss anything. The specialized team is the link mentioned above or others.

Megan

Hey @HuaDeity_!

I'm referring to your active ticket number with our Specialized agent that you're connected with via email. 😇

HuaDeity_

@Nancy @Megan @Jay

Hi there,

I found something interesting that I’d like to clarify:

There appears to be an account@"HuaDeity" within the community that might be my previous account. Could someone please help confirm the details associated with it?
Additionally, I noticed there’s a support case (#22510536) from 2023 showing up in the support portal of my new Dropbox account, which I created just a few weeks ago. This suggests that even though I previously deleted my old account, some related information remains linked to my email address.

I’d appreciate your assistance in reviewing these points. Thank you!

Nancy

Hi again, @HuaDeity_! When it comes to account security matters, we’re unable to discuss them in public, for the safety of all our users.

We’ll be happy to go ahead and create a new ticket with the current email address that’s linked to your Community profile, though. We can further assist internally this way.