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Forum Discussion

john l.134's avatar
john l.134
Explorer | Level 4
2 years ago
Solved

What's the difference between Dropbox Backup and 'normal' Dropbox? Can files be deleted / restored?

As I understand it, "Backup" creates an additional copy of files so that if my computer were hacked and my dropbox files were deleted, including those in the dropbox cloud, I could still restore them...
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  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    2 years ago

    Hey john l.134 - sorry to jump in here, but I wanted to mention that in the case you mentioned, you'd be able to use the Dropbox Rewind feature which allows you to go back in time within your account's version history.

     

    Let us know if you have any other questions! 

john l.134's avatar
john l.134
Explorer | Level 4
2 years ago

Thank you very much, Jay. 

 

So, to be clear:  If a hacker gets into my computer and deletes my dropbox folder or encrypts the files, which I believe they can do without knowing my dropbox password (just as when I log on to my computer, I can access those folders without entering my dropbox password), I can still recover them using my dropbox password, right?

Jay's avatar
Jay
Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
2 years ago

Yes, provided that you still have access to the online version of Dropbox, and are within the version history for your account. 

 

In general, even for a personal machine, we recommend adding a password onto your computer profile login to provide a little extra security to your machine.

  • john l.134's avatar
    john l.134
    Explorer | Level 4
    2 years ago

    Yes, I do have a login password.   Just one more follow up question:  I have thousands of files in my dropbox.  If it were deleted or compromised, would I have to recover the files one-by-one, or could I recover my whole dropbox folder all at once?   Again, many thanks!

    • Walter's avatar
      Walter
      Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
      2 years ago

      Hey john l.134 - sorry to jump in here, but I wanted to mention that in the case you mentioned, you'd be able to use the Dropbox Rewind feature which allows you to go back in time within your account's version history.

       

      Let us know if you have any other questions! 

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