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I deleted my Dropbox Backup but files still are still accessible through the 'Recents' filter
Hi,
In my main account, I've deleted a Backup (proper Backup; a computer that was registered there).
Today, when exploring the "Recents" filtering on the Home page, I see the name of that compute...
Hi Megan Jay, I've fixed by doing the following:
- Unlinked all my devices
- Deleted the new backup I had created, in order to start from scratch
- At this point, the "Recents" filter was still showing that deleted data from the older backup still
- Went to dropbox.com/backups/all, refreshed the page several times and, at some point, I got a red message in a rectangle (didn't capture the screen) saying something like "There are some problems with your folders; resolve if you want to keep them or delete them" (even this message was bugged; we are not talking about "Folders" there; those are "Backups"...)
- Right then, the older deleted backup (Backup 1) in my example, appeared grayed out on the list, with the overflow menu giving me the option to delete it
- Did that; "Recents" filter had all those files and folders in that backup dissapear
As I was guessing in my previous message, something was really messed up. Even though I had no way to see that older backup, the "Recents" filter still showed those files. I don't know if both backups have somehow got mixed together or why "Backup 1" wasn't showing while I had the new one, but it was quite disconcerting.
I don't fully trust a couple of things now; first the whole Backup functionality (yeah, I know it says "Beta"), why data I though was deleted properly was still there (if I haven't gone through all this I'd have never known that my data was still recoverable - privacy issue), completely disjointed experience between all clients (web, mobile, desktop) on how it handles this (i.e. still now, the "Recents" filter show different items on web vs. mobile vs. desktop), etc. Will monitor for a while and think if I'll renew or not, but during all these things, I got the feeling that the platform wasn't as robust as the last time I used Dropbox when it started with cloud storage many years ago, so it will be difficult to trust my data to it moving forward.
I'll leave you a couple of questions, if you can answer:
- The "Recents" filter; since we can't remove items from there. How many items does it keep? Is it time-based (e.g. show the last year)? Does it depends on the amount of items there?
- Data retention; how much time, supposedly, since I permanently delete a file or even a backup, do you keep that data on your servers?
Thanks.
Adding more info, I think something is severely messed up. I don't know if that "Unlinked" status in my current Backup is related. I've found a few threads here but no solution offered on 1) What it actually means 2) How to "relink"
Summary; I purchased the subscription in January. Create an initial Backup named "Backup 1" (example). Deleted it a few days after.
This week, I created a new Backup named "Backup 2". In the Dropbox application / Backup settings, it called to my attention that on the sidebar it didn't show this name I gave; instead is showing the name of the old Backup (BTW, it's a different computer, so no remnants of previous Dropbox configuration there; was a fresh install).
When browsing the "Recents" filter on the Web and pinpointing those orphaned files, as mentioned, I can view/download them on the Web. I can also open its "File Location". When doing so, it takes me to the Backup screen; inside the "Backup 2" folder; obviously the file isn't there.
TL;DR; I think something messed up and Dropbox thinks mixed the two Backups together OR it thinks that the new Backups has those files (why would opening the file location take me to the new Backup URL I made?) OR a combination of all these; when I deleted "Backup 1" it messed up; when I created "Backup 2" it created on top of "Backup 1" (or something; lacking the words to explain this) and now both are entangled or related together.
Potential solution could be deleting "Backup 2" and creating "Backup 3", to see if it fixes this, but you can agree this whole thing is a trust mess; I've lost all confidence in Dropbox actually working as a backup tool if it failed so strongly after a few days of creating the account and with placeholder folders. All platforms messed; each one of them with their own erratic behavior; nothing on Dropbox desktop client shows any errors (Sync log reports OK; Backup screen shows OK - even after manually clicking the button to "Backup"; all the while the web report Status = Unlinked)
Do you have any idea what is going on here Jay?
