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chopchop's avatar
chopchop
New member | Level 2
5 years ago
Solved

Missing desktop files after deleting dropbox

Hi  a while ago (6 months ago) I downloaded DropBox app and checked syncing with my personal Desktop files (although I think I disabled that immediately). It synced, but because I was using free ver...
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  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    5 years ago

    Hi chopchop, sorry to hear about this. 

    It sounds like you enabled the computer backup feature at some point. 

    If that's the case, you can find the steps to disable it here. 

    As per your missing files, do you see any signs of them in your deleted files page or the events page?

    If not, they never made it to our servers, so you may need to be looking for them locally on your device, be it in their original locations or your trash can. You could also try enabling hidden files to show in Finder to see if you can find any of them that way.

    Keep me posted anyhow!

     

    Mod note: updated links in post [last update 2023]

Hannah's avatar
Hannah
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
5 years ago
Hey Cg28, thanks for the nudge here.

To delete the backup folder without deleting your desktop files, you'd need to disable the backup feature and move your files back to their original location first. 

Did you try following the steps my colleague Walter provided above?
Confusedashell's avatar
Confusedashell
Explorer | Level 3
4 years ago

I am having the same problem. My docs are gone. I repeated the steps above but still no luck. This is terrible. What am I doing wrong?

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    4 years ago
    Hi Confusedashell, how long ago were the files deleted from your account?

    Do they appear at all on the events page?
    • Confusedashell's avatar
      Confusedashell
      Explorer | Level 3
      4 years ago

      Sunday night. They don't appear on the events page. Thx.

      • Megan's avatar
        Megan
        Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
        4 years ago
        Hey Confusedashell!

        Have you checked for any missing file names under your Finder/File Explorer on your device?

        Also, did you happen to empty your trash when the content was deleted?  

        Let me know!

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