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All my files disappeared from Macbook after deleting dropbox.
All my files disappeared from Macbook after deleting dropbox. When i re-installed drop box i only got some of them back because the most recent ones (since september 2020) weren't synced to my dropbox. Is there a way i can get my files back please? I contacted Apple and they told me to contact dropbox.
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- Hi @amalb , could you recover the files finally? I’m having the same issues and I’m losing years of work in that files!
- Jackson
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hi agusvon, thank you for posting.
Did you delete the Dropbox folder, before deleting the Dropbox app?
If you have not deleted the Dropbox folder before or after deleting the app, your files could still be in the Dropbox folder, under a folder called PC or Mac.
Can you also check your events page, and see if you can find a deletion event related to your missing files?
Let me know if you find them.
- Hi Jackson. Thanks for your email. I see that also you answer in a conversation with the community. I never use dropbox and of course that I didn’t how works.
I installed dropbox for a minute because someone send me a dropbox file to see through email. Then the page request me to download the app. I did it but I saw that some set ups in my mac changed and I didn’t like. So I delete the Dropbox mac in my computes. All my files from “Downloads” (Many years of work, my job , everything information super important for me) disappeared from my Macbook after deleting dropbox .
When I re-installed dropbox I only got some of them back because maybe when I delete the app my files were syncing, so the files weren't synced to my dropbox. I contacted apple and they tolde to contact you guys.
I'm desperate, I hope you can give me a solution I lost a lifetime of work.
What I don't understand is, how easy is all that files get deleted if they weren't synced in the first time, a lot of people maybe don’t know about dropbox and that power that your app gets, the access to all the files, it’s dangerous.
I still have faith that there is some way to get them back 😓
Thanks Jackson On dropbox I can see all my folder in Mac Section, but they are empty inside, there's no files or images inside the folders. In some of the a few files, but the most part of my files are missing.
This was all the folder that disappeared in my mac, they are there in dropbox account. But the most of the folder are empty, all my information is missing.
- Megan
Hi agusvon, thanks for the added info, and sorry to jump in here!
Out of curiosity, have you tried looking for some example file names in your Mac's Finder?
Can you also search for Files on my computer or Files in Dropbox shortcuts in the location where you'd expect the files to be?
Hi Megan , I searched in all places. I'm desperate. I lost many years of work. What it happened is just you take power over my files and I gave you that permissions by mistake, and I didn't know that I was giving you that access. I deleted your app and all the stuff about Dropbox from my computer after 5 min that I downloaded your app. So basically you just sync the 1% of all my documents and files. But the rest 99% it's gone when I delete your app. It's crazy how easy you can lose years of information, your job, all of that.
Hi Jay , I'm trying to recover from a third party app I'm scanning all lost files. Where I should start looking if I see the files? I have to search for a dropbox folder that I deleted once I deleted the app with all the documents and file or just to look for individual file in my history of the scanning?
- Jay
The app itself should be able to detect any missing or recently deleted files on your machine, so it isn't necessary to specify a location to check. If you see any familiar files, then it should be related to the Dropbox folder.
- I'm facing a big problem:
Deleting the Dropbox folder on my laptop deleted all of my documents.
I checked the folder carefully before deleting it and it only contained documents I no longer needed.
I wanted to free up storage space on my almost full laptop and thought I no longer need the documents and can delete them.
The problem I am facing now is that ALL the documents that I had saved on my laptop were deleted because I didn't know that my desktop and the automatically created "Documents" folder were saved on the Dropbox and thus also were saved in said deleted Dropbox folder, but without them being visible.
I ask for clarification on how I can find my (unintentionally) deleted data again.
Thank you for your help.
Kind regards
