Need to see if your shared folder is taking up space on your dropbox 👨‍💻? Find out how to check here.

Forum Discussion

Paul C.32's avatar
Paul C.32
Helpful | Level 6
4 months ago
Solved

Accidentally deleted .dropbox file

Device
MacBook Pro
Operating System/Browser (if using the web)
macOS Sequoia 15.5
Dropbox App Version (if using the app)
230.4.8797

Question or Issue
I deleted the ".dropbox" file from the root folder by mistake. I did this from the Terminal, so I have no way to restore it.

What is the consequence of this? Is there a way to regenerate it?

Delete
desktop
Mac
  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    4 months ago

    It should just auto regenerate next time Dropbox is ran - but you may find things like Selective Sync settings need to be reset up and it will have to fully reindex everything again

6 Replies

Replies have been turned off for this discussion
  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    4 months ago

    Fantastic news Paul C.32! 😇

    Keep an eye on it, and if you notice anything weird, we'll be one post away.

    Cheers! 

  • Paul C.32's avatar
    Paul C.32
    Helpful | Level 6
    4 months ago

    The file has not reappeared, but I also have *not* run into any issues. My selective sync settings are still as they were before.

    I have restarted my computer since this occurred, but I did not happen to notice whether the app had to reindex. Everything seems OK for now!

  • Theresa's avatar
    Theresa
    Icon for Community Manager rankCommunity Manager
    4 months ago

    Hi there Paul C.32​  and welcome back to the Dropbox Community, it's so great to have you here. I’m so glad to hear you were able to recover your file  and thanks so much for coming back to share this update. It’s always encouraging for others to see that these things can be fixed.

    By the way, I'm Theresa one of the community managers here at Dropbox HQ 👩‍💻. I’d love to know.. how do you usually use Dropbox? Is there a particular feature that’s been especially helpful in keeping your files safe and organised?

    Looking forward to hearing more,

    T 😺 (Dropbox Community Manager)

  • Neal's avatar
    Neal
    Icon for Community Manager rankCommunity Manager
    4 months ago

    Hi Paul C.32​,

    Can you let us know if Mark's advice helped or if you ran into any other issues since?

    Just want to make sure that any answers are documented for future members of the Community.

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    4 months ago

    Hi Paul C.32, thanks for posting on the Community.

    As Mark said, it should reappear again, although you might lose some selective sync settings.

    If you experience any unusual behavior, please let us know in a reply!

  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    4 months ago

    It should just auto regenerate next time Dropbox is ran - but you may find things like Selective Sync settings need to be reset up and it will have to fully reindex everything again

About Delete, edit, and organize

Solve issues with deleting, editing, and organizing files and folders in your Dropbox account with support from the Dropbox Community.

The Dropbox Community team is active from Monday to Friday. We try to respond to you as soon as we can, usually within 2 hours.

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X, Facebook or Instagram.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!