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I deleted my Dropbox folder and all files on my iMac are wiped

Hey everyone,

I'm having quite the conundrum. For a few months, my iMac has been having space issues lately. So I've been uploading large video files, syncing, etc, to my dropbox, I pay for the large space TB one. THEN I deleted them, hoping it clears my space up on my iMAC. Somehow, a day or weeks later the storage that was temporarily cleared APPEARS right back, though not necessarily apparent to me in the same folders. But the space is TAKEN back again. I stopped autosyncing to dropbox in february due to space functionalisty issues, imac notified dropbox I was low on space and that it was best to conserve energy/storage. EVEN though I'd been deleting the files that I l uploaded to DROPBOX after they'd finished uploading... Anyways, YESTERDAY my iMac had 1GB remaining of space, crazy YES, I know. I decided to stop editing on my iMovie, which was barely working and delete the DROPBOX folder and the extra video files by placing them in the trash. I ONLY place those two things in there and press DELETE/EMPTY TRASH. It loads, showing how many files are being loaded and time remaining, then it shows TWO dropbox segments deleting. The number goes from 1,000-5,000-then over 200,000 files, that I DIDN'T even know my computer had on it... It won't let me click off to stop the deletion... then my DESKTOP gets deleted, I can't even screenshot because the desktop doesn't exist ANYMORE to save a screenshot on it. Then my download finder folder is deleted and has a ? mark in it's place. I couldn't even download files from my emails, because downloads did NOT EXIST anymore. Why would APPLE allow DOWNLOADS and desktop to just be DELETED?? I called apple and email dropbox for help. I restore some of the files partially with an iMac backup in my DROPBOX. Suddenly downloads finder folder is back on my iMAC but ONLY allowed with dropbox permission now. Also all my iMovie videos are gone and show empty blank blue and grey icons or screens, I can open them, but NOTHING is in there. I've tried to restore my photobooth library, it's in the dropbox cloud, and it wont let me click on the icons to even add them to be reconnected as a library. I talked to Apple Support AGAIN today, nearly an hour, and they said that it's a dropbox developer issues at this point. ALLEGEDLY. Has anyone every experienced this? I'm sad and need my files back, of family, my YT videos and more are all gone. Any advice? I need it. Thanks.

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Comments

Hannah

Hey @NAustMal, thanks for reaching out to the Dropbox Community.

I'm sorry to hear about your files.

For all your desktop files to disappear when you deleted your Dropbox folder, it does seem like your Dropbox backup feature was on at the time of the deletion.

But contacting our support team was the best move here, because they are the ones that have visibility on info that are specific to your account and they'll be able to assist you better.

I located your ticket, passed your comments along and raised the priority of the case, so the agent working on it will get back to you really soon.

Let us know if you need anything else in the meantime.

NAustMal

Hi Hannah,

Thanks for responding. I think I must be confused with syncing versus a system back up feature. I definitely had syncing indefinitely paused, due to spacing issues and low function of my iMac when dropbox tried to sync. Are they the same or not? I'm moderately tech savvy, but this completely beffudles me. Additionally APPLE stated that due to my low space issue, it seems my iMAC wasn't functioning properly, which prevented the complete deletion of the items, months ago. Looking forward to any and all solutions.

Hannah

Hi again @NAustMal.

Syncing files and backing up files are indeed different things, but let's see if I can clarify the processes and let me know if you have any questions.

So, with syncing, you can add any file you want into your local Dropbox folder and the Dropbox desktop app will sync it to our servers.

This makes the files available for you in your account on Dropbox.com and any other devices you've linked to your account.

With the backup feature, you can choose to back system folders like your Desktop, Downloads and Documents folders up to your Dropbox account and access those files from your backups page here.

You can see more about how the feature works here.

I hope this clarifies things a bit.

PS. I also see that you have an update on your ticket, so make sure to reply back to the agent working on your case, and they'll help you resolve it the soonest possible.

Jay

Hi @NAustMal, just checking to see if you saw our last reply.
If you still need any help, feel free to reach out to us again.
If your issue has been solved, let us know what worked for you!

NAustMal

Hello, I've still had no solution to this issue. I've even tried an advance reinstall/uninstall, restarted the computer after that, I've deleted the dropbox app off my iMAC again, and the browser tool as well. The dropbox files mysteriously keep popping back up in my trash can, after I've deleted them already. This has happened maybe 10-15 times since my issue began. I want do COMPLETELY disconnect from dropbox loaded folders on my iMac. I want ALL MY FOLDERS and files on my computer and I can personally UPLOAD important things whenever. I used to really l like dropbox but I can't stand how it has integrated and taken over everything on my computer. The pathways to every folder and file goes back to DROPBOX not my HD on my computer. This is beyond me.

Jay

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