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Forum Discussion
Alan W.12
3 years agoNew member | Level 2
Files disappeared from my Dropbox folder
The problem started yesterday. I noticed some files were missing from local synced files as well as the web interface. This morning more files disappeared. I checked the Deleted Files folder. It appe...
- 3 years ago
Alan W.12 wrote:
One of them says "You deleted 48940 files" with a link to those files. ... I did not delete those files.
It may not have been you directly, but something on a device of yours initiated the deletion. Have you moved any folders lately? That would often show as a mass-deletion in Dropbox (Dropbox detects that a folder no longer exists where it once was and marks it as deleted). Or have you run any clean up utilities on your computer that may have organized or removed files?
If you restore one of the files and look at its version history, it will show you the specific device that the deletion occurred on. Look to that device for a possible cause.
Is there a support department I can reach out to?You can find the support options that are available to you, which vary based on your account level, on the Support page.
Rich
Super User II
3 years ago
Alan W.12 wrote:
It appears that close to 100,000 files were deleted at the same time yesterday afternoon, which I absolutely did not do.
Check your Events page and version history of one of the restored files. It will show you where the deletion occurred.
- Alan W.123 years agoNew member | Level 2
Thanks for the reply! I did not know those pages existed. The event page shows several delete activities. One of them says "You deleted 48940 files" with a link to those files. After I clicked on the link, I saw a bunch of small files in the size of around 1kb shown as being deleted. It doesn't make sense. I did not delete those files. Is there a support department I can reach out to?
- Rich3 years ago
Super User II
Alan W.12 wrote:
One of them says "You deleted 48940 files" with a link to those files. ... I did not delete those files.
It may not have been you directly, but something on a device of yours initiated the deletion. Have you moved any folders lately? That would often show as a mass-deletion in Dropbox (Dropbox detects that a folder no longer exists where it once was and marks it as deleted). Or have you run any clean up utilities on your computer that may have organized or removed files?
If you restore one of the files and look at its version history, it will show you the specific device that the deletion occurred on. Look to that device for a possible cause.
Is there a support department I can reach out to?You can find the support options that are available to you, which vary based on your account level, on the Support page.
- Alan W.123 years agoNew member | Level 2
Thanks! That's very helpful. I think I found the problem. An external drive, where Dropbox files are synced to, was disconnected from my desktop. The Dropbox client on my desktop probably thought that the files were deleted and started to delete them. A lesson is learned. Thank you for your help!
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