Forum Discussion

mckaugha33's avatar
mckaugha33
New member | Level 2
8 years ago
Solved

Dropbox deleting files by itself

I have a Dropbox file that I share with 2 other collaborators and for some reason, I keep getting notices asking if I'm sure I want to delete a file. I didn't want to delete the file and hadn't even ...
Delete
sync
  • Lusil's avatar
    Lusil
    8 years ago
    Hey there mckaugha33! Just to add to what Mark mentioned, what does your events page show? You can also have a look through the version history of the file as well for more info.
     
    Do keep us updated on this and we’ll make sure to get back to you as soon as possible. Thanks! :grin:
Graydon's avatar
Graydon
Explorer | Level 3
6 years ago

I have a Mac (pro) as well, and have been experiencing files dispappearing randonly as well. My setup is I have my whole dropbox files (1.5 Tb) on a dedicated 4 Tb WD USB drive. Almost every couple of days, I wil go lookign for a file, and find the whole folder empty. I go to the Dropbox web page, and UNDELETE the files that have been deleted in the past week. I used to UNDELETE everything, but now, its happens so often (the last 6 months) that I just look for huge batches of files that have been deleted, not just single files. I never delete a whole folder of files, so its easy to spot the files I'm missing. 

I have, a few times, been working on files in a folder and actually see them get deleted, the files, one by one, pop out of existence

Right now, literally, I am physically moving my dropbox to a brand new 4 TB WD drive, in case the problem was the old drive failing.

I have been assuming its some issue on my end, becaude I have found DropBox pretty bullet proof till now, and this would be a magor bug.

Glebich's avatar
Glebich
Explorer | Level 3
6 years ago

I have this issue for many years now. And decide to address it. I have an external drive for dropbox and when I unplug it and then plugin again in 10 hours, approximately files Deleting automatically from my dropbox without any action from my side. History shows that at 7 AM someone deletes 10 0000 files. But there was no one near the computer. I have no idea what's going on. Of course, I restore files quickly but Why this happens? I have enough space on my hard drive and file, which is was deleted was using actively. 

  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    6 years ago

    Hi Glebich, an external drive can definitely lead to deleted files, as I've noted in this thread with various reasons why it can happen.

     

    Regarding the history you're seeing, this is when the deletion is officially noted on the system, since deletions aren't instant and do take time, so that you can then restore the files.

     

    Hope this helps to clarify matters!

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!