Why was my Dropbox account deleted without any notification?

Question

I went to login to my Dropbox account and it kept getting "Signup Free". Tried a password reset and nothing happened. It appears Dropbox has decided to delete my entire account without any notice, no email, nothing.

I have a security code login email from them on January 23rd. I have multiple clients that send shared folders to this account/email. All gone.

Reading the forums, I'm not the only person this has happened to. Anyone know why this happens and why? It essentially renders this entire service useless and unreliable!

How and why anyone keeps using this service is beyond me.

Nancy · Answer

I’m sorry to hear about this, @BananaMan. To clarify, did you create a new Dropbox account with the same email address in the meantime?

After joining a Dropbox team, the admin has the option to delete your Dropbox account, as you’re technically part of their team. However, during the process of becoming a team member, you should have the option to join with another Dropbox account, so that you may keep your personal one separate.

Additionally, the admin can convert your Dropbox account back to a personal one, instead of deleting it altogether.

I’ll go ahead and pass this as feedback to our team though, since I totally understand how this has affected you.

BananaMan · Answer

I'm not sure Walter. I did often view client shared Dropbox files so I assume so, but I can't be 100% certain. I often was asked to sync the shared directories with my Dropbox, so I would have assumed I was logged in when viewing them.

In any case, why would removing me from a team delete my entire account? That seems incredibly odd and a broken dynamic if that's the case, especially as my account existed well before connecting with that team.

I don't expect a thorough explanation from you or the Dropbox team as to what happened or why this occurred as I can see this has happened to other users, but this is more of an FYI post for other user to be informed before they lose their entire account.

Walter · Answer

Did you log into your account after getting removed from the team account you mentioned @BananaMan?

Also, have you checked with the team's admin to see if the account was deleted?