The previous version of my Microsoft Word file appears deleted on Dropbox.

Question

Hi, I need help recovering a specific version of a file. The file itself (Chapter Capitalism &...Spain _ Working.docx, on my Desktop) still exists, but in its version history there is one entry from yesterday at 19:38 marked as "Deleted". This version was created when Microsoft Word for Mac showed a permissions error and offered to save to "Recovered Documents". I accepted, but something went wrong and that version ended up marked as deleted in the history.

Both the "Restore" and "Preview" buttons for that deleted version are disabled/unclickable. I've tried different browsers, incognito mode, and the /deleted_files page (it doesn't appear there either).

That deleted version likely contains hours of unsaved work. I'm on the Basic plan. Could someone from the team please help me access or restore that specific version? Thank you very much.

Mark · Answer

https://community.dropbox.com/en/discussion/comment/861053#Comment_861053

There isnt, no, sorry.

Dropbox works on the files saved locally. So to get files on Dropbox they need to save locally and then upload. If they never make it to the disc its impossible they'll make it to Dropbox.

jorgespinoso · Answer

Hi, thanks so much for jumping in. Yes, I was able to find the deletion event and restore that version. Unfortunately, the restored version doesn't contain the changes I made  before the crash — it seems those edits never actually got written to disk at all (not locally, not to Dropbox).

Just to confirm before I close this: is there any deeper backup or internal version on your end that might contain a later state of the file even if it was not properly saved? I understand if not, but wanted to ask before giving up. Thank you again for your help!

Hannah · Answer

Hey @jorgespinoso, I hope it's okay for me to jump in.

Are you able to see the particular deletion event in your events page here?