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Forum Discussion
Why did I receive an email that my files will be deleted?
Dropbox Advanced Plan (Unlimited)
Question or Issue
Hello Dropbox Community and Support Team,
I am writing this post out of genuine concern and urgency, hoping someone from Dropbox can provide clarity, accountability, and a viable resolution.
I was a long-time user of the Dropbox Advanced plan, back when it offered unlimited storage. At the very beginning of my Dropbox journey, I asked Dropbox Support one very specific and critical question:
If I use Dropbox for years and end up storing a large amount of data (for example, 50TB), and later decide to stop my paid plan, what happens to my data? Will it be deleted, or will it remain safe on my account?
I was clearly told by Dropbox Support that:
- All the data I had already uploaded would remain permanently on my account
- My data would not be deleted as long as my account remained active
- The only limitation would be that I would not be able to upload any new data
This was a fair and reasonable policy, and it was a major factor in my long-term trust in Dropbox.
Discontinuation of Unlimited Plan & Reconfirmation from Support
When Dropbox discontinued the unlimited storage plan and moved to per-terabyte pricing, the cost became completely impractical for a personal user with ~50TB of data. Before making any decision, I again reached out to Dropbox Support to reconfirm what would happen if I chose not to continue with an active paid plan.
Once again, I was explicitly told:
- My existing data would remain safe
- My data would not be deleted
- As long as my account stayed active, Dropbox would retain my files
This was escalated and reconfirmed by higher-level support in March 2024.
Sudden and Alarming Deletion Notice
Now, completely out of the blue, I received a notification stating that:
- My data will be deleted by January 30, 2026
- I am required to reduce my account usage to under 2GB
This is extremely alarming and directly contradicts multiple written assurances I received from Dropbox Support over the years.
My Concerns
- How is this allowed?
This is the exact scenario I proactively asked about—multiple times—and was clearly assured would neverhappen. - How am I supposed to download 50TB of data?
Even with fast internet, downloading this volume of data within a limited time window is unrealistic, costly, and technically challenging. - Why is Dropbox not standing by its own commitments?
Trust was built on explicit support assurances. Changing this retrospectively puts long-term users at severe risk.
What I Am Asking For
- A formal clarification from Dropbox on why previous commitments are no longer being honored
- An exception, grandfathering, or alternative solution for legacy unlimited-plan users like myself
- At the very least, a realistic and humane transition path that does not put decades of work and data at risk
This situation is extremely stressful and disappointing for someone who trusted Dropbox for years as a long-term data archival solution.
I sincerely hope someone from Dropbox can step in, review my case, and provide a fair resolution.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I look forward to a response.
— A long-time Dropbox user and supporter
9 Replies
- Emma
Community Manager
Hi Maharshi, thanks for joining our community forum.
Let me start by saying that I completely understand your concern, and hopefully I can provide some info to clarify the situation.
The information that you were previously provided was accurate at that time. However, our policies may change from time to time, and when that happens we provide notice to our customers to ensure they are aware of any changes that may impact them with ample time to take action.
In this case, Dropbox subsequently began enforcing quota limits for our free tier (Dropbox Basic). For Basic users, files may be deleted until they are under quota. You can find out what will happen to your files if you exceed your available storage space here.
I hope that helps. Let me know if you have any additional questions.
Hi Emma, I understand that the policies change with time but Dropbox as a company should also consider & think of the options for their customers. I was committed that my data will never be deleted as long as my account remains active irrespective of what plan I'm on. I did check with the customer support when Dropbox discontinued Unlimited (Advanced) plan. That time also I was told that my data will remain safe. Now suddenly, In November I'm notified that my data will be deleted within 60 days (by Jan 30 2026). How am I supposed to download 50TB of data within that tie frame? I even started deleting some files but then there's still 48TB of data that's there. 2 months of notice isn't good enough for someone to download large amount of data.
The other major issue is that I'm not even able to download my data/files because the Dropbox desktop app won't sync my files since it's over limit. Downloading via browser fails multiple times as it's not stable and zipping files isn't great for larger files. Please tell me a solution and fastest'/safest way to download my files to get under the storage limit?
I was hoping to sync the Important folders to my desktop and once that's copied to my external harddrive/storage I'll delete the files on cloud one by one. Please help me with a solution here?- Mark
Super User II
Hi Maharshi
I dont work for Dropbox so cannot comment on conversations, however the only people who can help with this are Dropbox support as its those who will be initiating and following up on this policy and implementing it, not the community facing team.
Another solution would be to look at something like https://movebot.io/en/platforms which will move the data directly to another cloud solution for you without the need to download.
Thanks Mark, I tried reaching to the support team but couldn't connect unfortunately :(
- Mark
Oh of course, you arent paying so that would be why.
It may be worth doing a one month upgrade instead then as otherwise you wont be able to contact them. Note that trials dont allow for support so you do need to pay.
I tried purchasing a plan but it says, "I'm not allowed to make this purchase"
May I know what does that mean?- Mark
Thats not an error I've seen before, sorry.
I wonder if its because you are so over quota that some sort of abuse flag has kicked in?
So how do I resolve or get out of this situation? Since, I can't connect with customer support & can't even purchase a plan to connect with customer support.
- Neal
Hi Maharshi,
Apologies for the inconvenience here, I've escalated this issue and one of our team will reach out to you soon by email to assist further and put you in direct contact with support.
They should reach out shortly and hopefully we'll have this resolved for you very soon!
