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tgelhaus's avatar
tgelhaus
Explorer | Level 4
5 years ago
Solved

Documents, Downloads, and Desktop folders are gone on my MB Pro. Dropbox has folders but no files

Hello there!   So to preface, I'm relatively new to Dropbox, and only got it for a couple work gigs. But the moment it had access to my computer, it started creating a backup I think? Which, with...
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  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    5 years ago

    Hey tgelhaus, thanks for all the info and the updates!

    I'd also suggest searching for My Mac folder on your Finder. Keep in mind that it could be hidden.

    To show hidden folders/files: Press Command+Shift+Dot (Command + Shift + .)

    Let me know what you find!

SamVT's avatar
SamVT
New member | Level 2
4 years ago
I’d just like to chime in this exact issue is happening to me currently as well. I wanted to use Dropbox Backup and the moment I started my downloads folder disappeared. Fortunately it saved my files to Dropbox but now my downloads folder is broken and just an alias to a Dropbox copy of my downloads folder. But now I can’t download anything since that local folder is broken.
Walter's avatar
Walter
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
4 years ago
Hey SamVT - sorry to hear you're having issues with this.

Have you by any chance tried to disable the computer backup feature properly as outlined here? 
  • klabarbera's avatar
    klabarbera
    New member | Level 2
    4 years ago

    I'm having a very similar issue with desktop, downloads, and documents being in my dropbox account online but removed from the laptop. I had deleted dropbox not knowing it had done this and now I can't redownload it because it's holding my download file hostage. I can't download anything because the location does not exist. I contacted apple support for hours before nailing down that it was a dropbox issue and there's no way to contact customer support with dropbox. This whole thing is super frustrating. 

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    4 years ago
    Hey klabarbera, sorry to hear you're having issues with this. 

    Could you please let us know some additional information?

    For example, did you disable the computer backup feature before uninstalling the desktop app from your computer?

    Also, if you're getting any specific errors, I'd appreciate a screenshot so that we can have a visual too.

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