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A deleted file still appears and allows it to download from the site
Hello,
I often experience a behavior that I understand is not correct.
I have a folder A where I have several PDF files numbered with a numeric sufix, I delete one of those PDF files from the web (dropbox.com), I click to change folders to folder B, I click to go back to folder A and the file is still there (despite having deleted it before and receiving a confirmation message), and the worst thing is that it also lets me download it. I think I remember that it doesn't let me do other actions with it, it gives an error, but it does let me download it.
It also happens when I delete the file from the App (in this case Android) and I visit the web version, where it has not been synchronized and the file still appears in the list.
I understand that if a file has been deleted it should not let me download it even though due to cache problems or reloading of the web page it appears in the folder even though it has been previously deleted. If it has been deleted it no longer exists, that's understandable.
I use dropbox to save and download unique items that I deliver later. That is, when I download a PDF then I delete and I consider it delivered (and deleted). It's a queue of documents to be processed and deleted.
With this anomalous behavior, I can end up delivering the same single document to two different recipients, which causes me a lot of inconvenience.
I hope you take note of this and can fix it, since the application is by far the best over its competition, but this error is causing me a lot of problems.
Regards
11 Replies
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I use Chrome latest version, and Android App latest version too.
It happens with the files that I have deleted and that are still displayed in the list of files in the folder in question.
I suppose it is due to a cache or synchronization problem.
It does not happen with all of them, I delete some and they do not appear again in the list, but some (the minority) continue to appear despite having been deleted and having received the message of successful deletion.
The biggest problem is that I try to download it (despite being deleted) and it does allow me to download it, when it should give an error in this case to know that although it appears in the list, the file is no longer in that folder (was deleted)I forgot to mention that if I reload webpage (Ctrl+F5) then the list of files is reloaded and the deleted files that were shown, now have gone and only the "true" files are shown.
For me the real bug is allowing to download a file that was previously deleted even though it is still in the trash.
That "cached" download link should give an error indicating that the file no longer exists/was deleted or is no longer in that folder.- Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
It's possible that the file is still being stored in the cache folder of your browser, and allowing it to be downloaded.
Could you try clearing your cache entirely to see if this helps?
Do you have any proxy, VPN, firewall, security software, or even ISP/router settings that could be restricting traffic to the following Dropbox domains?
I think you're not understanding me.
The file is downloaded again from dropbox, it's not a question of the file being cached.
What remains "cached" is the list of files in that folder, with files that have already been deleted still appearing.
I can understand that if I delete a file in the Android App, the list of files in that folder in the Chrome browser is not refreshed immediately.
But at least, if it is not refreshed, it should not let me download or do anything with the files that should no longer be in that list of files after having been deleted.
Do you understand me now?- Jay
Thanks for the details. Is this behavior appearing when using a different browser on your machine?
I can try Firefox, but at least using Chrome occurs.
But please take a look at this:
Why allow downloading a file that has been previously deleted from the Dropbox website or from the App?
It doesn't make much sense.
Please show an error message that the file was "deleted" or "moved to trash" and not allow downloading it.Same behavior using Firefox.
131.0.6778.265 (Build oficial) (64 bits)
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