Cannot find files I thought I'd been saving to Dropbox on my old computer which won't let me in.

Hi michaelelias, if you install the Dropbox desktop application, it would sync the files from the site to your machine. 

However, if you have a Dropbox Backup from the old machine, it might be possible to restore from that Backup to your current device.

Are you certain that you're logging into the correct account as well? Is it possible that the Dropbox desktop application wasn't running on your old machine, so files weren't getting synced to the site?

I was looking on the web version.  Is this the right thing to do?  Would installing the app on my computer make any difference, or does it only keep things locally without file sharing?

Hi Megan,

I searched in Backup with the file name in question, with and without the extension, and nothing turns up.  I didn't pay for Backup; it was a free account.  I can't look in my old computer because it kept getting stuck at the login screen and wouldn't let me in.  This is why the new computer is what I'm using now.  Any other way to find my files?

Hey michaelelias!

If you had a Dropbox folder, you most likely used our app.

It sounds like you enabled our Backup at some point. Can you also check your Backup page online, and let me know if you see anything?

If not, and based on what you're describing it sounds like they never synced 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.

Hi Megan, 

Thank you for your fast reply!  On my old computer, I would save my files to my Documents folder in This PC and also to Dropbox folder in the same section (broader category This PC).  So does that mean I'd installed the Dropbox app?  In this case, are my files recoverable if I didn't save them to the web version?

I've already checked my deleted files and there's nothing.  I didn't even delete anything accidentally.  The Events page only lists my community forum participation an hour ago.  

I think I only have one account.

Hey michaelelias, welcome to our Community!

How did you add files to your Dropbox account on your old device? Did you upload them using our website, or was the desktop app installed on your computer?

As a first step, I recommend you check your deleted files page or the events page, to see if you can find them there. Do you see any sign of the files being uploaded when you go through your events page? 

Is it possible that you were using a different Dropbox account when you were uploading the files in the first place?

Let me know more, and we'll take it from there.