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Nick_S's avatar
Nick_S
Explorer | Level 3
5 hours ago

Did Dropbox change deletion policy after paid plan downgrade?

Hi there )

Dropbox changed deletion policy after paid plan expiry? Need clarification

I’m really concerned about what seems to be a major Dropbox policy change.

My Dropbox Plus 2 TB plan expired recently, and my account dropped to Basic. Years ago, Dropbox support told me that after a paid plan expired, files would still be kept for up to 1 year, even if the account was over the free limit.

But now I’m seeing a warning in my account saying:

“Some of your files will be deleted in 58 days”

and

“On May 24, 2026, we’ll need to delete files to bring your account under the limit.”

I’m currently using about 1.99 TB, so I’m massively over the Basic limit, but what shocks me is the deletion warning itself. In the past, I was told files would remain stored much longer, even without an active subscription.

So now I’m trying to understand whether Dropbox officially changed its policy recently, whether this 58-day deadline is real and final, whether anyone else has received the same warning after a paid plan expired, and whether Dropbox has actually started deleting files from downgraded Basic accounts.

The most frustrating part is that once the account becomes free, I can’t even access official support to ask for clarification.

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has dealt with this recently.

3 Replies

  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    36 minutes ago

    Dropbox changed it earlier this year, which isn't really unreasonable - lots of other services would delete as soon as you arent paying. 

  • Nick_S's avatar
    Nick_S
    Explorer | Level 3
    1 hour ago

    Megan​ I'm loyalty Dropbox user for more than 10 years and after all these years I'm getting the notification that my files will be deleted after 2 months ???? Cmon ! 😡😡😡

  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    4 hours ago

    Hi there, Nick_S​, thank you for taking the time to post about this on our Community!

    Indeed, the files of some Basic accounts may be subject to deletion. You can find all the relevant info in this article.

    From my side, it's important to mention that you should also have been notified via e-mail in regards to this matter.

    Now, as the article itself notes, once the deadline has been reached, only files you own will be deleted starting from the least recently modified ones.

    Keep in mind that you can also download your files to your computer before they’re deleted, or remove some of your shared folders in order to free up some of your space.

    If you need something else, please let me know and I will be more than happy to help every step of the way. 

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