Child Item

Shared folder still shows up in other members' Dropbox accounts.

Device
iMac, 2020
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)
macOS 15.6.1
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)
232.4.5926

Question or Issue
I have Dropbox Basic. I am/was the owner of a Dropbox shared Folder. I deleted this folder over a year ago. However, this folder still shows up in people's Dropbox's, and several have NO option to delete it. It no longer appears in my list of Dropboxes, so I cannot administer it in any way. I have not got Dropbox Backup set up for this 😐

Any suggestions?

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weaselenterprises

Hi Megan
DS Polly doesn't show on the Home page.
It does show in the shared Folders.
It does show on the deleted files page, and I have now deleted it permanently.
I hope that means it will no longer show up in other members Dropboxes.
Of course, I cannot verify that other than by asking about 50 people.
Thank you for your patience with all this.
Ken

All comments

Rich

weaselenterprises wrote:
I am/was the owner of a Dropbox shared Folder. I deleted this folder over a year ago. However, this folder still shows up in people's Dropbox's ...

Did you just delete the folder from your account, or did you unshare the folder first?

weaselenterprises wrote:
... and several have NO option to delete it.

They should still have the option to remove the shared folder from their account. Have them check their Shared Folders page and they'll likely find the option to remove the folder.

Megan

Hey @weaselenterprises, let's jump right into this!

Keep in mind that owners of shared folders have the option to permanently delete a shared folder, or simply unshare it. Both of these actions have an effect on the people who have access to the shared content.

With that in mind, since you mentioned that the shared folder members still have access to the folder, is there any possibility that you simply removed the folder from your account?

If you haven't done so yet, go here, and see if the folder is listed there. In that case, you can follow Rich's suggestion to unshare the folder without leaving any copy to the affected members.

Let me know more, and we'll take it from there!

weaselenterprises

Hi
Thank you both for the swift responses.
Rich, I believe I deleted it from my account, but it was over a year ago, so I really don't recall. However, the problem may partly arise from trying to things on my phone rather than on the website.
On my wife's computer, I found the shared folder in her Shared Folders page and was able to remove it from her Dropbox (it still shows, but as "you haven't joined this folder" in the Shared Folders page, but has now disappeared from "Files" on her phone.)

I would now like to delete the Folder which shows on my Shared Folders page. However, the only options are "Share, Download, and Remove from Dropbox".

I suppose I am getting muddled by terminology; is removing from Dropbox the same in effect as deleting it? I just want to get rid of it permanently as it is causing confusion for some members of my community choir.
Rich's suggestion to unsure it makes sense, but doesn't appear to be an option (see screenshot)

So where do I go from here?
Many thanks
Ken

Megan

Hey @weaselenterprises, thanks for the added info!

Since you don't see the option to add the folder back to your account, is it possible that you never removed it? It looks like this is the case here.

If you wish to remove the folder along with its files permanently from each member's account including yours, can you try the steps mentioned here in order to unshare it? If you face any problems when following these steps, let me know.

weaselenterprises

Hi Megan

OK, "How to unshare" problems:
1 The folder would appear to be empty.

2 The folder is only within my Dropbox top-level folder

3 The folder does not contain inactive/deleted shared folders

"To unshare a folder" problem

There does not appear to be an "Unshare folder" option, or am I just being stupid?
I feel I am going round in circles. Any further guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks

Ken

Megan

Hey @weaselenterprises, thanks for the visual here!

Since you've made sure that this folder doesn't contain other shared folders and that it isn't inside another shared folder, it looks like the case here is that it contains inactive shared folders that you wouldn't be able to see.

Provided that the nested shared folders it once contained had you as the owner here's what you can do instead: you can select your folder, and delete it. Once that's done, you should be able to then permanently delete it.

That will remove the folder both from your Dropbox account, and from the members' accounts too.

weaselenterprises

I don't get an option to delete it. I tried to upload a screen recording without success. so here are a sequence of screenshots

When am I going wrong?
Ken

weaselenterprises

Further to this, I "removed from Dropbox", rejoined, and there was a delete option ("this will delete for everyone") so I did.
It still shows up in my shared folders.
Perhaps I should just give up. This is REALLY doing my head in

Megan

Hey @weaselenterprises thank you for your patience here!

In the screenshots that you provided me, it looks like you're trying to delete the folder using your "Suggested for you" section. It's expected that you wouldn't have the option to delete the folder from there.

Can you please try from the drop-down folder menu on your home page?

Keep in mind that it's also expected for the shared folder to be visible on your sharing tab, whether it's active or removed from your account. The difference is that if you've removed it, you should see the option to add it back to your account.

When you visit your deleted files page, can you locate the folder there, in order to permanently delete it?

weaselenterprises

Megan

Hey @weaselenterprises!

Happy to see that your issue is now resolved!

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