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Pegasus57's avatar
Pegasus57
New member | Level 2
2 months ago
Solved

I changed my mobile device, and now have an issue accessing my old account.

Until today, I had a long-standing Dropbox account which was free. Setting up a new phone (Google Pixel), I naturally downloaded the Dropbox mobile app to this new phone and logged-in with my existing account details (the phone number is the same as my old one was). However, now I am seemingly proceeding on a 'Try Free For 30 Days' basis as if I had set up a new account, before a monthly payment will kick-in and (seemingly) with no way to get back to the 'free' account that existed before. There was a message about 'exceeding' something, which I took to be the number of devices linked, so I went in an deleted my old phone from that list (Samsung), to reduce the number to three again (Google Phone, Computer and iPad). This has made no difference, so; is this normal and can I do anything about it now -  why should changing my phone (retaining the same number and with the same account details) result in this new situation?

  • Hi,

    Yeah, I think it's just a confusion on my part, following the installation of the app on my new phone. This does say that it is Dropbox Basic (Free), and I can see my existing files/folder structure. The issue, was that if I then click on the arrow to 'View details and manage your plan', I'm presented with 30-day trial options for either 'Plus', 'Family' or 'Professional' packages. OK, I panicked LOL.

    All is well though, as when I go to my 'Plan Page', as you suggest, this does indeed show it is (still) the 'Basic' plan, with 2Gb of storage.

    Thanks for the reply and help -  though I will still keep a beady eye on my bank account for 30 days time, just to be sure.

4 Replies

  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    2 months ago
    Pegasus57 wrote:

    why should changing my phone (retaining the same number and with the same account details) result in this new situation?

    If you clicked on 'Sign Up' instead of 'Log in' that is what would happen. 

    You cannot create a new account with the same details, so, the one you are using now will be a separate account. 

    Log out of the device on your phone and relog in using your correct details (i.e. the original account) and you'll find everything for free. 

    Did you sign up and put card details in or set up a plan with Google Play? If so you also need to cancel the trial or you WILL be charged. 

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    2 months ago
    Pegasus57 wrote:

    However, now I am seemingly proceeding on a 'Try Free For 30 Days' basis as if I had set up a new account, before a monthly payment will kick-in ...

    If you have a Basic account then it will always be free. Changing your phone doesn't affect that. You either activated a trial on your existing account, or you started a trial under a new account.

    First, can you see your files in Dropbox on your phone? If so, you're signed in to your original account. If not, you likely created a new one.

    Next, go to your Plan page on the Dropbox website. What plan does it show for your account?

    If you find that you actually have a trial running, you can cancel it by following the steps on this help article.

  • Pegasus57's avatar
    Pegasus57
    New member | Level 2
    2 months ago

    Hi,

    Yeah, I think it's just a confusion on my part, following the installation of the app on my new phone. This does say that it is Dropbox Basic (Free), and I can see my existing files/folder structure. The issue, was that if I then click on the arrow to 'View details and manage your plan', I'm presented with 30-day trial options for either 'Plus', 'Family' or 'Professional' packages. OK, I panicked LOL.

    All is well though, as when I go to my 'Plan Page', as you suggest, this does indeed show it is (still) the 'Basic' plan, with 2Gb of storage.

    Thanks for the reply and help -  though I will still keep a beady eye on my bank account for 30 days time, just to be sure.

  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Community Moderator rankDropbox Community Moderator
    2 months ago

    Hi there, Pegasus57, thanks for posting here! 

    Happy to see that your issue is now resolved! 

    Give us a shout if you need anything else. Wishing you a great week ahead, cheers! 😇

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