We’re Still Here to Help (Even Over the Holidays!) - find out more here.
Forum Discussion
SenB
2 years agoHelpful | Level 6
I lost some updates on the files I was working with, after a computer crash.
Hello - I hope I've got the right category and am not asking a question already asked (I couldn't spot it).
For the second time today, after a computer crash, all the file saves after a certain...
SenB
2 years agoHelpful | Level 6
Thanks Nancy - no, even when I was over 4GB my files were syncing (my quota was/is stated as 4.75 GB), and I am now under 2 GB and they have been syncing regularly all week.
And yes, whilst I'm not 100% sure when I checked syncing through the day, I know that there has to have been syncing after 5:52 PM yesterday because that one file saved at that time is there. I had saved changes to several other files as well by that time after a 1.5-hour work session (all those other edits have disappeared).
I also then made edits to 3-5 files from 7-7:30 PM and saved them, and the crash was around 10:15 PM, so I don't think a delay in syncing could explain it - it's usually much quicker to sync for me than that.
Megan
Dropbox Community Moderator
2 years agoHey SenB, let me also jump in here!
This is indeed a unique situation here. However, if we're to take into consideration the info that your version history & events page present at the moment, that means the files' changes never synced to Dropbox.
If they were, they'd be an indication of this on your events page, and then we would be able to either see an edit, or a deletion.
What file types are we talking about? I know it might sound trivial, but have you tried searching for some example file names outside of your Dropbox folder on your device?
- SenB2 years agoHelpful | Level 6
Thank you for this suggestion Megan, I did a search for three files as a test and found some "shortcut" files, but they were all versions from when I last opened them yesterday afternoon, i.e. without the saved edits. Still - I'll remember to try this next time immediately after the crash.
The file types are LibreOffice Writer and Calc (their equivalent of Word and Excel).
Finally, I realise it seems impossible that I saved the files, they synced, and then those versions somehow disappeared again from the version history and the events page. I guess it is possible that I am misremembering saving files on Tuesday afternoon/evening, or (less likely) that I did save, am misremembering checking that Dropbox had synced, and in fact it then didn't sync for three hours (though that would be a bit worrying, and as I said above, seems unlikely when it usually takes a few seconds after saving).
The problem is that the last time this happened, which I think was last Wednesday (the 5th), I woke up on the Thursday to find that *all* of my saved edits had disappeared. None of them were major, but my point is that it just doesn't seem plausible to me that I didn't save any files all day (my normal habit is to save whenever I get up from my desk) or that Dropbox didn't sync all day.
But again, I realise it's also implausible that saved versions are disappearing from Dropbox. At this stage, I think what I'm going to do is use an external hard drive as a secondary back-up, and do a three-stage check every time I save: save to my computer, check it syncs, then save to the external drive. That way, if there's another incident, I'll be able to say with 100% certainty what has happened.- Megan2 years ago
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hey SenB, I definitely see where you're coming from.
However, let me add one more thing for you to consider.
Perhaps you saved these edits, while the app wasn't running. Then once the app resumed its syncing process, and instead of these edits syncing from the device to your account online, what happened is that the edits you had online, synced "down" to your computer.
This is very rare, but not impossible.
A few things to keep in mind is whether you see the little Dropbox icon on your task bar, and your syncing icons next to your files/folders.
In any case, keep an eye out, and let me know if this happens again. Thank you!
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!