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Cannot find files I thought I'd been saving to Dropbox on my old computer which won't let me in.
Cannot find files I thought I'd been saving to Dropbox on my old computer which won't let me in. Had to buy a new computer; on it now but when I login to Dropbox, I don't find my files. I was using OneDrive before, on my old computer. Is that the problem, or likely something else? I also understand that there are two versions, the web and the app? I tried the web, and nothing is there. Help! I need my word processing files back! Those are long novels, one in progress!
16 Replies
Hi Mark,
I'm not sure about the quota. The only large files I'd been saving into the Dropbox folder on my old computer were my novels, and they were 200,000 words, 230,000 words, and 395,000 words, plus maybe 30,000 words from the fourth one I started. Even though those are long novels, the memory taken up from each is in the MB range, not GB, correct? And isn't the quota for Dropbox accounts created around 2010 roughly 2-3 GB? My files contained no photos and hence were not huge in data size. It was all word processing. It's possible my computer itself was running out of space, but I never got an error message when saving my work to the folder in 'This PC'. Whether it's running or not, I couldn't say, because I'm not sure I'd ever opened these files from the Dropbox folder after saving them into it. I always asked the Writer program to open the files, and it would. I had not accessed any Dropbox account for at least a couple of years from anywhere other than my old computer which won't let me sign in after 10-15 attempts.
I should also add that I may have added the Dropbox app to my old computer under an old email address which I don't have access to anymore. I tried answering the questions about the file, but I remembered some details incorrectly and it said I attempted too many times to log in. So now I can't even log into that old account (I had remembered the password correctly), and I try to contact support but it only gives me a business development page. How do I get my files back? It shouldn't be this hard.
- Mark
Super User II
How do I get my files back? It shouldn't be this hard.
Without access to the email its very unlikely you can do so - for the obvious security issues and reasons.
You need to contact support via www.dropbox.com/support WHILE NOT LOGGED IN, even here, so use an incognito window.
- Mark
I couldn't say, because I'm not sure I'd ever opened these files from the Dropbox folder after saving them into it.
This is very likely to be the issue.
If you didn't open and edit the files inside of Dropbox you have not updated the files in Dropbox. Dropbox does not have a link to any other file on your machine. It can ONLY update and edit things that are inside its own directory. So if you saved a copy of it and then opened the file using a different application BUT hadn't told that application to change where it opened it from then you have ended up with 2 versions of the file on your machine.... one in Dropbox that was dated when you copied it over but hasn't updated and the other you did open, update and change.
Thank you for that. How do I use an incognito window? I will try that, but something tells me I will run up against the same login/password/verification problems I've been having with my old, inaccessible email. I don't even have it as an account anymore, yet I still remember the password.
- Mark
How do I use an incognito window?
If its Google Chrome its usually from File -> New Incognito Window
