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Around 500 images created via Arduino IDE were randomly deleted via my mobile app.

So I am trying to understand what has happened, and how to avoid it again (i'm assuming it is something I have done)

I'm coding micro controllers for a project of mine (arduino IDE) and have about 100 versions of said program saved in my dropbox. Everytime I create a new version it creates a new directory with about 20 files for the program. All this programing is done on a PC. My phone is also connected to dropbox but only back's up images taken on my phone to dropbox.

My issue is that a week ago my phone deleted 5 jpg files repeatedly from each of these 100+ program file directories.

All 500ish images ( basicly 5 images representing battery charging indicator repeated in 100 seperate diectories) were deleted in about 2 minutes, so it's not something that could have been done manually in that time.

My question is what happened and how do I make sure it doesnt happen again

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Nancy

Hey @robecq! Thanks for posting here.

This sounds a bit unexpected indeed, so let’s have a look.

First off, can you go to your Events page here, and locate/open those deletion events? Do you see any other kind of info that could help us pinpoint why your files were deleted from your mobile device?

Other than that, do you remember if you were working on your project on your PC around that time, or if you were accessing your Dropbox account via your mobile app?

Let me know once you have more details.

robecq

I can locate them and have since restored them all. What sort of info do you need? They are 5 seperate jpg files, that are part of a battery animation (called battery1.jpg, battery2.jpg etc) and used in multiple projects as part of program files. All where deleted by my phone dropbox account over a 2 minute period. no events before this deletion for 2 days. I wasnt working on my project at that particular time. Am not sure if I was accessing dropbox on the mobile app exactly at this time - I rarely use the mobile app at all.

robecq

I only noticed because my projects program files stopped displaying the images. I am very concerned that other files have been or might be in the future deleted and I not notice it in time.

Nancy

As the next step, can you please locate the version history of one of the files you’ve already restored and send me a screenshot showing the device from which it was deleted?

This will help us investigate this further.

robecq

Megan

Thank you for confirming the case and all the details provided @robecq.

The reason we had you check is the fact that we would expect this kind of behavior, potentially, through the desktop app, due to an unexpected move or third-party interference.

Since this action happened through mobile, as far as I'm aware, it might not be possible to identify what caused this deletion.
By the way, if you hover over 'Mobile' you should be able to see the name of the device through which the files were deleted.

If you happen to use an iOS device and use the Files app, it might be worth considering if the deletion was actioned from there.

Now, in general, keeping an eye on the Events page will allow you to be up-to-date with the most recent synced activity among devices. For large deletions, make sure that the "I delete a large number of files" setting here has been selected.

Finally, you can keep an eye on the notification section on the desktop app.

Aside from that, should this reoccur, please don't hesitate to reach back out. Thanks!