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Karen1961's avatar
Karen1961
Explorer | Level 3
2 years ago
Solved

Does the shared link change if a file has been deleted and restored?

Hi. I accidentally dragged a file out of dropbox onto desktop (MacBook Air).It is part of an important submission to a judging panel and now that I have returned the file to dropbox I do not know if the link has changed. Can anyone tell me if the link remains the same when retuned to dropbox, or if dropbox creates a new link? Thank you!

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  • Hannah's avatar
    Hannah
    2 years ago

    Hey Karen1961, thanks for posting your question today.

     

    When a file is dragged out of the Dropbox folder, it's considered deleted, so the link won't work, but if you restore the file, the old link should work just fine.

     

    If you'd like to test this, you can copy and open the link yourself, from a private browsing/incognito window, to see if it works.

     

    I hope this helps, but let me know if you have any questions!

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

    Hey Karen1961, thanks for posting your question today.

     

    When a file is dragged out of the Dropbox folder, it's considered deleted, so the link won't work, but if you restore the file, the old link should work just fine.

     

    If you'd like to test this, you can copy and open the link yourself, from a private browsing/incognito window, to see if it works.

     

    I hope this helps, but let me know if you have any questions!

  • Karen1961's avatar
    Karen1961
    Explorer | Level 3
    2 years ago

    Thanks so much Hannah. To be sure what you are saying. If I drag the same file back into dropbox then it is assigned the same link as before? I'm so delighted if that is the case. Many thanks

     

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

    Hi Karen1961, if you dragged the file out of your Dropbox folder, then the shared link would be deleted. My colleague suggested restoring the file, which is done via the website. This should restore the old shared link.

     

    Dragging the file back into your Dropbox folder, as you mentioned you did, wouldn't restore the link, and now might prevent the link from being recovered if you were to restore it from the site. 

  • Karen1961's avatar
    Karen1961
    Explorer | Level 3
    2 years ago

    Thanks Jay. I'm dismayed again! Ive done as you suggested and found the Deleted Files  on the left,but the word Restore is not anywhere to be seen. Ive attached a screenshot...

  • Karen1961's avatar
    Karen1961
    Explorer | Level 3
    2 years ago

    Apologies Jay. I think I have found the correct link now. Pressed Restore and hoping for the best!

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