Need to see if your shared folder is taking up space on your dropbox đŸ‘šâ€đŸ’»? Find out how to check here.

Forum Discussion

LynnMGallagher's avatar
LynnMGallagher
Helpful | Level 5
8 years ago
Solved

How do I delete files from Dropbox without deleting them from my computer and other devices?

I do not use Dropbox for backup storage; I use a different service for that.  But friends and fellow students sometimes want to share files in Dropbox, so I set up a free account.  Somehow, I don't k...
Delete
Dropbox Basic
FAQ
sync
  • Daphne's avatar
    Daphne
    7 years ago
    Hey peeps! 
     
    So I think there may have been some confusion here DG123. If you made a copy of the music folder into your Dropbox folder, then when you deleted the files from your account, you are right that the Dropbox folder copy will have been removed. The original folder will not have been affected at all as it has no connection to Dropbox.
     
    However, if the music folder was moved into the Dropbox folder and then the files deleted then you essentially moved the original copy and then deleted it. 
     
    If you no longer have the music folder on your desktop, then I can suggest you restore the folder from your Deleted files page. Then, allow the folder to sync to your desktop and then move the newly synced music folder out of the Dropbox folder onto your desktop.  
        
    Also, keenum_law, sorry for the tardy reply, I'm hoping that at least answering your question will help others with the same query!
     
    In this case, you can copy the content from the Dropbox folder and paste it in another location. If you remove the files from your account then, as it is shared, it will remove the files from the other connected Dropbox accounts. However, if their files are also saved on their devices, then these will not be affected by the copied being removed from their Dropbox.
     
    Let me know if you have any other questions - Thanks!
Daphne's avatar
Daphne
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
7 years ago
Hmm, I see. :thinking:
 
If the folder you found from the search isn’t within your Dropbox folder then it sounds like you did make a copy (file explorer search will bring up items within the Dropbox folder too). You can check this by right clicking the folder brought up from the search, click the “Properties” option and you will see the folder path of where the folder is located.
 
Should you see only one folder from the search, and the folder path shows “Dropbox”, then you should move the music folder to your desktop . If you see two folders (one without Dropbox in the file path), then deleting the folder within your Dropbox account shouldn’t affect the desktop copy.
 
Let me know if this helps - Cheers!
LizMac42's avatar
LizMac42
Explorer | Level 4
5 years ago

Dropbox is so complicated..I dont think its dafe to use for non experts..I wouldnt use it again since I lost videos of my grandchildren..there is not enough immediate or understable help when using it.

  • 1jimco's avatar
    1jimco
    Explorer | Level 4
    5 years ago

    I agree with the other posters -- this software should come with a warning that you can potentially lose your files. Today I wanted to share a folder with my other laptop and in the process of doing that I saw a button to back up my documents. I clicked that, assuming that I could browse to the folder I wanted to share. Instead it staring uploading ALL of my documents. I realized that my account could not hold everything so I looked for a way to stop that. I found it in the Preferences and turned it off while it was still uploading. Now a great many of my folders are just GONE from my computer. Dropbox is saying that it has deleted files so they are not in Dropbox either. Will I get them back if I click restore? But there isn't room in Dropbox for them. What a freaking disaster! It's crazy that this software can just remove my files and folders.

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!