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Lost files after enabling Selective Sync
What the **bleep**!?
I just lost tens of thousands of crucial log files because I happened to move a large archive folder into Dropbox, then decided not to sync the log folder.
Why the hell would...
Because that is exactly what you told it to do. And what you confirmed it to do when you are given the pop up prompt.
Edit: that said as long as you are quick and reverse that Selective Sync choice via the menu as Dropbox uses an internal cache you may find that the files are restored - even those none uploaded.
vadoff wrote:
It shouldn't even be designed in such a way that unsyncing something deletes it from the local computer
Yes, it should, when the entire purpose of the feature is to remove a folder from the local drive. That's the point of Selective Sync. It's not meant to allow you to store a folder in your local Dropbox folder that doesn't sync. It's meant to REMOVE folders from your local drive to save disk space while keeping those folders stored in your account online.
It clearly states that the folder will be removed; both in the documentation for the feature and in the confirmation that appears.
You said:
"It's not like it even went into the trash can, which would be annoying but at least acceptable. If it's going to be PERMANENTALLY DELETED, such a warning should be present and made absolutely clear."
The key thing (which I haven' seen any of the previous responses point out) is that the files have not been permanently deleted. If you go into the selective sync box and re-enable syncing for the folder (it will be available there), then it will re-appear on your local computer. It will take downloading of the many gigabytes of the files from the cloud, so do it on a fast network connection, but they have not been deleted if you just did what it seems from context.
Good luck, hope you get your files back!
Rich
Super User II
Super User II
vadoff wrote:
It shouldn't even be designed in such a way that unsyncing something deletes it from the local computer
Yes, it should, when the entire purpose of the feature is to remove a folder from the local drive. That's the point of Selective Sync. It's not meant to allow you to store a folder in your local Dropbox folder that doesn't sync. It's meant to REMOVE folders from your local drive to save disk space while keeping those folders stored in your account online.
It clearly states that the folder will be removed; both in the documentation for the feature and in the confirmation that appears.
Rich,
The reasoning is arrogant and condescending. It does not help any of those present who are struggling with this problem to ride around on any documentation and proclaim it as a law like the holy Inquisition.
This behavior was newly added in 2018 and it's a design fail for a lot of reasons and the Dropbox company is be responible for this data loss behavior! In previous versions this behavior never happen.
I pay for my dropbox account, and I want decide what files are beeing on the dropbox space or what files are not. It doesn't matter if the files are synchronized directly with a device or not.
You should support people with an option that switching off selective synchronization does not automatically lead to the deletion of files on all devices.
1) Give legal reasons against this procedure.
2) Tell me the exact date and Dropbox version number, since when have you introduced this new procedure for deleting the data on the connected devices, which have to do directly with the deactivation of the synchronization of folders.
Dropbox will never admit to any fault, nor make any effort to rectify this situation. Their stock response is (and always will be) "it is supposed to break, we just didn't notice it wasn't breaking, so we went ahead and fixed it so that it breaks now". My team lost a lot time due to this crazy dogmatic thinking. Luckily, we had other backups (Backblaze). Back in October, we canceled all dropbox accounts and moved everything to GitLabs. Best move we ever made. Google Drive is also a good replacement, allowing selective sync like Dropbox used too. They offer more free space, and more space for the money if you pay for G Suit. Thier sync app uses less resources, and sync speeds are much better too. Unfortunately, Dropbox is just not worth the time anymore.
I do not talk to any unknow user
- Jay
Dropbox Community Moderator
Hi everyone, I understand your frustration about how de-selecting folders in selective sync deletes the folder on the computer.
As far as Iâm aware, this has always been the default behavior since I began, I even posted about this behavior here later on in a separate thread. Iâll paraphrase my responses here for convenience.
When a folder is unchecked from the selective sync window, it should delete the local copy of the folder, and keep the online copy untouched and not syncing to the machine.
If a local folder isnât automatically deleted, it can be for various reasons, such as too many files in the folder to delete, permissions issues, or some other unknown factors. This is when you get the grey minus symbol to appear on the folder and files.
The fact that until now it was leaving the local copy of the folder with a grey minus symbol, and not deleting it completely, means that it wasnât working as it should. You were actually experiencing the desktop app failing to delete the local copy, and that was never the intent of this feature.
The main reason for selective sync is to prevent folders from appearing on your local machine (meaning they wouldnât sync or take up space), so there should never have been a local copy to begin with, as this could later cause selective sync conflicts.
While I understand your wish to prevent entire folders from syncing to the site, there is a method to do so using the steps here for some users, I just wanted to clarify that from what I know, selective sync should delete the local folder. If it didnât, then that indicates that thereâs an issue with your desktop app.
I appreciate your feedback on this matter, and it has been noted in our system.
