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alex b.35's avatar
alex b.35
Explorer | Level 4
9 years ago
Solved

deleted folder re appeared after a couple of years

Something very weird just happened with my dropbox account. Out of nowhere, a folder which was deletec about 2 years ago re appeared on my dropbox. It has the files as they were, which makes me wonder why the hell dropbox is still keeping these files after a few years that they have been deleted?

 

First I thought it was a hack, but then I checked all my devices and what was accessing my account and indeed, everything was as it was before.

 

It makes me think this is a serious bug and on another note, why the hell is dropbox keeping data that was deleted 2 years ago?

 

I'll surprised, scared and angry at the same time. I'm not even sure where to begin! I'm now wondering about several of my clients that use dropbox in their business if the same happens.

  • Thanks everyone for your patience while we worked on a way to clean up the inadvertently restored files and folders. We've built a fix that will automatically return this content to the way it should be: deleted and out of your Dropbox. This will only impact the inadvertently restored files and folders, and only if you haven’t updated them. We’ll begin rolling out the fix to affected users’ accounts later today. We’re giving you a heads up here so you’re aware of why there may be changes to your Dropbox. Here’s a bit more information about the fix.

     

    Will this affect my other files?
    The fix will only impact the inadvertently restored files and folders. If you have edited the files or folders—by moving them or updating the content inside—they will stay in your Dropbox. You can still manually delete these files and folders if you don’t want them.

     

    What if I don’t want these files or folders removed?
    While the fix will automatically take effect later today, you can contact our support team (dropbox.com/support) within 30 days and we’ll restore the files and folders for you. You won’t be able to restore on your own using the events page.

     

    Do I need to do anything?
    We will automatically roll out the fix, you don’t need to do a thing. If you have questions or concerns, please write our support team at http://bit.ly/cm-support so that we can investigate your specific case. Your ticket will be prioritized by the team.

     

    Thanks again for your patience, and we’re sorry for any inconvenience and confusion we’ve caused.

116 Replies

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  • Ross_S's avatar
    Ross_S
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    9 years ago

    Hi there,

     

    Appologies for that, the information there is not correct, this bug is infact resolved, as I mentioned in my previous post. We'll reach back out to you by email and clarify any further questions you have.

     

    Many thanks.

  • feklee's avatar
    feklee
    Helpful | Level 6
    9 years ago

    Four days ago I finally got an email from Luke, member of the Dropbox application specialist team: “While some of our users were affected by the described bug I want to be clear, you were not affected. None of your data was no recently restored and there is nothing to worry about here.”

     

    That's what I wanted to know. So the issue is resolved for me.

  • jduffeytx's avatar
    jduffeytx
    Explorer | Level 3
    9 years ago
    @Ross S. - Old files reappeared in my Dropbox folder spanning the past 5 years. In trying to figure out the reason I came across this thread. Your post says the bug has been resolved, but in my case it seems to have taken effect in the past 24-48 hours. The link to technical support is no longer working, but I have sent in a request using the Contact Us page.
  • jduffeytx's avatar
    jduffeytx
    Explorer | Level 3
    9 years ago
    This is the response I got from Dropbox, essentially telling me I am the reason old files are reappearing. How could this person not acknowledge the bug that this entire thread is devoted to???? Very frustrating!

    Casey, Feb 15, 8:01 AM PST:
    Hi Jeff,

    Thank you for contacting Dropbox Support.

    Reappearing files and folders usually occur because one or more of the computers that are synced are still accessing the folders. If you delete them, an application on another computer recreates them to continue working on the files.

    To solve this issue, you should delete the file or folder from the Dropbox folder on the computer that's recreating the file. You can see which computer has re-added the file by going to the website and checking previous versions of the file.

    The instructions for checking a file's version history can be viewed here:

    https://www.dropbox.com/help/11

    Please note that you can only view the previous version of files not folders. If you have a reappearing folder, you'll need to open the folder until you locate a file, so that you can view the previous version of the file within the folder.

    Thank you!

    Regards,
    Casey
  • BackMeUp's avatar
    BackMeUp
    Helpful | Level 5
    9 years ago

    The link to contact Support isn't working.  Many of my folders & files seem to have been deleted (not by me), then restored incompletely.  The files that were restored appeared in unusual places in my account.  I am still missing hundreds of files.  Could you please extend the 30 day file recovery period so affected users such as myself have some time to figure out what files are still missing?  My entire account is a mess because of this, and shared folders have caused even more problems. 

  • Ed's avatar
    Ed
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    9 years ago
    Hi there -
    This seems to be a separate issue and I'd recommend contacting support again (replying to your existing ticket) to continue the support on it.

    The issue raised on this thread was specific to what Ross has responded and has ben resolved already. I'll go ahead and close this thread but you're welcome to initiate new discussions if you see new issues that the community can help you with.

    Thanks!

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