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Dropbox Backup automatically creates folders under folders under folders ad infinitum
On my Macbook I once asked Dropbox to do backup of my Documents folder. What it did was to create a folder called "My files in Dropbox" and put all of my files under this folder. But under My files in Dropbox, it also created a folder named "Files on my computer". And under Files on my computer are "My files in Dropbox" AND another copy of all (or some, I am not sure, but many) of my files in Documents. This goes on ad infinitum it seems. These files take up all the storage of my laptop.
I've already contacted Dropbox Support three times via live chat (I have a paid subscription plan) but received no solution so far. Anyone else with the same problem? Did you find a solution?
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Hello Nancy,
If I understood well, in this scenario:
- folder AA and files BB.doc are connected to Dropbox backup, with sync on
- I created in my Dropbox account one folder called Laptop 2024
- I uploaded the folder AA and file BB.doc into the folder Dropbox Laptop 2024
- I deleted the folder AA and file BB.doc from my local C drive
in this case, will Dropbox delete folder AA and file BB.doc from the folder Dropbox Laptop 2024?
Please answer a Yes or No to this scenario.
- Nancy
Dropbox Community Moderator
In short, no it shouldn’t.
In this scenario, you’re basically having two copies of the same files on Dropbox; one in the original backup folder and a copy that you create later on within your local Dropbox folder (inside the “Laptop 2024 folder”).
If you delete the AA folder and BB.doc from the original backup location, this shouldn't affect the copy you have in “Laptop 2024” within your Dropbox folder (since these are two separate copies).
Hope this clarifies things a bit more.
Hi, the ticket number is 23417212. Thanks for looking into it.
Team,
I am still struggling with my laptop. I have paused the sync, but Dropbox still uses all the space I make free. What will happen if I simply delete the Dropbox folder on my laptop?
- Nancy
Thanks for the ticket number, tuongvan! I can see our specialized team is already handling your case, so I’ve left them an internal note for you too.
crismelo, if you wish to delete the local Dropbox folder and not affect your files online, you’ll need to disable computer backup and log out of the desktop app first.
- It seems that dropbox has encrypted my files in my C drive.
Hello team,
Can you please help me to clean up the Dropbox backup from my local C drive?
I have followed the instructions.
Can I now delete this Dropbox folder without impacting my local files?
I have deleted the backup option and logged off from the Dropbox app. Here is the actual status:
- Megan
Hey crismelo, if you've disabled your Backup, and signed out or uninstalled the Dropbox app, then you can make any changes you want locally, without impacting your files online.
Just make sure to keep a copy of the content you might need to keep locally on your device.
Please team help me!
I had 5GB free in my C drive and now is 121 MB. I have unistall dropbox, but I have accessed Dropbox to ensure my files are still in Dropbox. What do I need to do to stop Dropbox taking space on my C drive? Please answer me before my laptop stop working for good.
