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My photos were deleted after canceling my Dropbox subscription

nayakpanduranga

My Dropbox subscription was canceled, and after my account went over the available storage limit, many/all of my photos appear to have been deleted.

I did not intentionally delete these photos. They are extremely important to me, and I would like to know whether they can still be recovered.

I have already checked my Deleted Files folder. Could a Dropbox staff member please advise whether these photos are still within the recovery period or whether there is any way to restore them?

I am willing to upgrade my Dropbox storage again if necessary to recover the files.

Thank you.

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Accepted answers

Jay

Thanks for the reply.

As you mentioned that the photos weren't in any shared folders, and that they were inside private folders, this means that the files have been permanently deleted, as the 30 day recovery period from 24/4/2026 has expired.

We're sorry we can't be more helpful on this matter.

All comments

Jay

Hi @nayakpanduranga, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Did you receive an email regarding these deletions? Are you able to see when the files were deleted according to the events page on your account?

Feel free to drop any relevant details below. The more I know upfront, the sooner I can zero in and find a solution for you.

Mark

My Dropbox subscription was canceled, and after my account went over the available storage limit, many/all of my photos appear to have been deleted.

Dropbox emails to warn you they'll do this multiple times before they do so as well as has information on its website to say what will happen if you do this.

nayakpanduranga

Hi Jay,

Yes, I can see the relevant event in my Dropbox account. The event shows:

Your quota was decreased to 5.25 GB
Date/Time: February 19, 2026 at 11:22 PM

I believe the deletion of my photos was related to the reduction in my storage quota. Please let me know if you need any additional details from my account or the Events page to help investigate whether the deleted files can be recovered.

Thank you for your help.

Jay

Just for clarification, did that email state that your files were deleted on that date specifically in February, or was it later in the year?

nayakpanduranga

I received the following email on April 23rd 2026. Based on this, looks like the files were actually deleted on April 23 2026?

Subject: We cleared space on your Dropbox account

Hi Panduranga,

Your storage was still over the limit on April 24, 2026, so we freed up space by deleting files and leaving shared folders.

Good news—you can keep using your Dropbox account, and your deleted files are saved for 30 days.

Recover your files and choose a plan with even more space, starting at 2,000 GB.

nayakpanduranga

I received the following email on April 23rd 2026. Based on this, looks like the files were actually deleted on April 23 2026?

Subject: We cleared space on your Dropbox account

Hi Panduranga,

Your storage was still over the limit on April 24, 2026, so we freed up space by deleting files and leaving shared folders.

Good news—you can keep using your Dropbox account, and your deleted files are saved for 30 days.

Recover your files and choose a plan with even more space, starting at 2,000 GB.

Jay

Thanks for the details, this means that the data was deleted outside of the 30 day period, and it has been 3 months since then. If your files were in shared folders, then you should be able to recover them from there when you upgrade again.

Otherwise, if your files were in private folders, this would mean that the data cannot be recovered, as it would've been permanently deleted from our servers.

Keep me updated with any details.

nayakpanduranga

Thank you for getting back to me.

My files were not in shared folders. I have searched my account and I don’t see the missing photos and videos anywhere.

I really need help restoring them. I had 250+ GB of personal photos and videos dating back to 2010, including many irreplaceable memories from my life and family. Losing these files is extremely important to me, and I’m hoping there is still a way to recover them.

Could you please check my account and let me know if the files can be restored from a backup, recovery system, or any other available option? I’m willing to provide any information you need to verify the account and the deleted files.

I would sincerely appreciate it if you could escalate this to the appropriate recovery team and explore every possible option for restoring my photos and videos.

Thank you for your help. I really hope we can recover these memories.

Jay

Thanks for the reply.

We're sorry we can't be more helpful on this matter.