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Forum Discussion

jv168's avatar
jv168
Helpful | Level 5
3 months ago

The entirety of my "Documents" folder on my macOS device is gone

Hey all, I'm looking for some help in 500GB+ of lost files. Just to clarify: this Dropbox account is not the account I'm having problems with. The issue comes from a previous work Dropbox account t...
Delete
desktop
restore
jv168's avatar
jv168
Helpful | Level 5
3 months ago

Hey Hannah, thanks for providing some suggestions.

Searching for the Documents folder in Finder unfortunately yields nothing.

The Dropbox app is still installed, but I am logged out and it is not linked to an account.

Even though the account was deleted in May, I was still able to access all my files normally up until yesterday though. So that makes me wonder if it may be a separate issue that caused all my files to disappear.

Nancy's avatar
Nancy
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
3 months ago

Hi from me too, jv168! This is quite a peculiar incident indeed, so it may be better to check this with our support team directly. 

I can see you already have a ticket with them, so I’ve also added an internal note on your behalf. Please keep an eye out for their reply in the same email thread.

  • jv168's avatar
    jv168
    Helpful | Level 5
    3 months ago

    Hey Nancy, thanks for bumping the ticket! 

    I received their response. Since it was a Dropbox Business account, the most likely possibility is that my previous employer did a remote wipe of my entire Documents folder when I left the company. Apparently when the device comes online and syncs with Dropbox, the entirety of your files get wiped. That probably explained why I had all my files up until the point I accidentally opened the Dropbox app. 

    I guess it didn't matter that I had only synced one specific folder with Dropbox; everything including the most parent folder gets deleted. :/ I'm pretty devastated and unhappy about this, but at least now I know what the problem is and that there's unfortunately no solution.

    Appreciate all of y'all for the responses and support.

    • Hannah's avatar
      Hannah
      Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
      3 months ago

      Thanks for taking the time to post an update for us here, jv168.

      I'm really sad to hear about this outcome and really sorry that your files are lost.

      If you have any other issues or questions, please don't hesitate to let us know.

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