Forum Discussion

K_Rose's avatar
K_Rose
New member | Level 2
9 days ago

Duplicate Folders in Shared Dropbox - Deleting One Deletes Another

We’re experiencing an issue with our organization’s Dropbox where duplicate folders appear, and when we delete one, the other also gets deleted. Specifically, we have a main folder that contains subfolders for various reports. These subfolders were moved into the main folder (not copied), but now duplicate copies of these subfolders are also appearing outside the main folder.

The strange part is that if we delete a subfolder outside the main folder, the corresponding subfolder inside the main folder is also deleted.

Has anyone encountered this issue before? Any advice on how to resolve it would be much appreciated!

Thank you!

    • Megan's avatar
      Megan
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Hi K_Rose, let me jump in here! 

      Can you send us a couple of screenshots, in order for us to have a visual of the duplicates? Please redact any personal info that might be shown there.

      Also, just to confirm what subscription do you use on your end?

  • K_Rose's avatar
    K_Rose
    New member | Level 2

    Thanks for getting back to me, Hannah.

    The issue is occurring in both the local Dropbox folder and on the Dropbox website.

    Following the link you provided for the Events page, I was taken to the Events section where I can see activity from staff members on Dropbox. However, this doesn’t seem to help track the folders with the issues I'm encountering.

    I also checked the Activity section for the affected folders, and it shows that an individual added files to these folders.

    However, I’m wondering—since these subfolders were moved directly into the main folder, shouldn’t the saving of the added files have taken effect inside the main folder, rather than creating a duplicate subfolder outside of it?

    Appreciate your help!

    • Hannah's avatar
      Hannah
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Thanks for the update, K_Rose, I think I need some more info to investigate this to be honest.

      Do the duplicate folders also contain the same files as the original ones?

      If so, can you go through an example file's version history to see which device they're being added from?

  • Hannah's avatar
    Hannah
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    Thanks for letting us know about this, K_Rose.

    Can you clarify where you're seeing this behavior? Is it on the Dropbox website or your local Dropbox folder?

    If it's the Dropbox folder, can you confirm the duplicates also appear in your account on the website?

    What does your events page report?

    Let me know what you find.

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