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giulialatini's avatar
giulialatini
New member | Level 2
2 years ago

Really old Dropbox account. How do I recover these photos?

I filled up my Dropbox account with pics and then totally moved on some years ago. How do I recover these photos? And i don't use the same email anymore (Hotmail)

  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

    Hey giulialatini, welcome to our Community! 

     

    When you say that you moved on, do you mean that you forgot the account in question? When was the last time that you accessed that account?

     

    Was it more than a year ago?

     

    Keep me posted!

      • Jay's avatar
        Jay
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

        Hi giulialatini, if the account has been inactive for over 12 months, then it would've been deactivated by Dropbox. This means it wouldn't be possible to recover the files within the account.

         

        I'm sorry I can't be more helpful on this matter.

  • EEneo's avatar
    EEneo
    New member | Level 2
    Hi,

    I used dropbox many years ago (2014-2015) and I know I uploaded a lot of photos. The problem is that i don’t remember what email address I used, I tried a few ones that I know I had but can still not find anything. Is it possible to retrieve an account or see more detail by only searching in my name?
    • Hannah's avatar
      Hannah
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Hey EEneo, welcome to our Community.

       

      When was the last time you logged in to this account? Because if it's been more than a year, it likely doesn't exist anymore, due to inactivity.

       

      Can you check your email accounts or emails from Dropbox, to see if you can find that out?

    • Mark's avatar
      Mark
      Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

      EEneo wrote:
      Hi,

      I used dropbox many years ago (2014-2015) and I know I uploaded a lot of photos. The problem is that i don’t remember what email address I used, I tried a few ones that I know I had but can still not find anything. Is it possible to retrieve an account or see more detail by only searching in my name?

      Hi

       

      There is no way to find an account by name etc. The only way is email. BUT as has been said if you last logged in 12+ months ago said account would have now been removed. 

  • Am761's avatar
    Am761
    New member | Level 2

    Hello, 

    This is a bit tricky. I am pretty sure that I used to have a Dropbox account, with all my files, with an email address I cannot access anymore (like really). It was 1+ year ago. On my computer, I have a "Dropbox (Ancien)" (French for "old") file with a lot of my files on it, but none that are on my new DropBox account. 

    I am afraid about what happened to the files in my old account; in particular I worry that those are still shared with people that I dont want in my files. What can I do to know if they are accessing those files or if the files are still on my old Dropbox ? 

     

    To sum up: 

    1) I am writting from a new DropBox account but I used to have an old Dropbox account (I have not touched it in 1+ year)

    2) On it were the files that are now in my "Dropbox (Ancien)" (French for "old") file in my computer

    3) I cannot access the old Dropbox because my old mail was definitely closed (it was a pro email)

    4) I want to know if the people I shared parts of my Dropbox with can still access the files (and I cannot contact them, because I am not sure who had access and that was linked to a pro situation)

    5) I want to know if the Dropbox is still alive and accessible by others 

     

    Thank you very much I am very concerned and do not know who to ask. 

     

    • Hannah's avatar
      Hannah
      Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff

      Sorry to hear about this, Am761.

       

      To be honest, if it's been more than 12 months since that account was accessed, it's now probably disabled due to inactivity.

       

      Were the shared files in question owned by you? Meaning did you create the folders?

      • Am761's avatar
        Am761
        New member | Level 2

        Hi Hannah, 

         

        Yes they were. I did some kind of back up of my own files on my dropbox at some point. 

        I have two questions: 

        - if the account was deleted, does it mean that the others are not able to access my files anymore?

        - how can I know if the files were deleted? I can send copies of my ID and everything to prove it's me. I can also provide proof from my employer that it was indeed my email.

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