Admin and other users removed their access and now I can't get into shared folder

[ByTheWillow]

My accountants created a shared folder which I never accessed (I got busy and completely forgot about it which is on me).  They then removed themselves from the folder and said they made me the owner.  

1. How can I be the owner if I never accepted the invitation?

2. When I try to access it now, it says that I am not the owner of the folder and I need to request access. I have now twice requested access to no avail.

How can I find out who the new owner is of the Dropbox?  This is so frustrating because I need to access the documents and the accountants say that they removed their access so they can't assist me.

[Hannah]

Hi there, @ByTheWillow, thanks for joining our Community.

This is a tricky situation, but let's see what we can find out.

If you go to your shared tab on dropbox.com, do you see the folder there? If you do, it should have a "join folder" button on the right, when you hover over it.

Let me know and we'll go from there.

[ByTheWillow]

Hi Hannah!

Thank you for your speedy response!  I only created a Dropbox account last week using the email address that they shared the folder to so I don't know if that would also make a difference?

There is nothing under shared folders. 

So what happens to the Dropbox folder if the users removed their access?  I know I dropped the ball on this, but I feel they should've double-checked whether I had access before removing theirs. This is such a dilemma now 😞

[Mark]

Hi @ByTheWillow 

Can the people who sent you this rejoin it via www.dropbox.com/share ? 

However, I suspect the only way to sort this mess will be for you to get them to create and share a new folder with you. 

[ByTheWillow]

I will try asking them again.  But this is my fault, I should've accepted the invitation back in 2018 instead of forgetting about it.  Should start following my own advice: "do it, then it's done".

[ByTheWillow]

Hi Hannah,

Do you perhaps have another solution for me?  I don't think the owners of the original folder are very keen to spend more time on this so I don't really want to contact them.  Why is the folder saying that it'll ask the owner to allow sharing the folder with me?  If I didn't accept the invitation and they removed their access, then who becomes the owner?

[Mark · Accepted solution]

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@ByTheWillow wrote:

Hi Hannah,
If I didn't accept the invitation and they removed their access, then who becomes the owner?

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Nobody becomes the owner. The folder will now not have an owner at all. 

And I've just noticed that you were sent this in 2018 meaning the folder is 5 years old. It is therefore very, very likely they have not got the folder in their own account anymore (i.e. they deleted it to recover space) meaning its now no longer recoverable. Free accounts can restore for 30 days, paid 180. After that the files are permanently unrecoverable.

My guess here is unless the company can resend you a copy of the files from their own data/archives you have lost them I'm afraid.  

[ByTheWillow]

Thank you Mark!  Ja they deleted their access last year so then it's definitely gone.  I appreciate your help with this.  We live, we learn!  Thanks again 🙂