'Couldn't delete item' - I can't delete any folder or file or change how has access to anything

[Matt Busfield]

Afternoon

I'm trying to free up space on my dropbox account but keep getting the message 'Couldn't delete 1 item'

I also get an error when trying to remove access to some on a file.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks

Matt

[Tricia51]

Hi Matt

If I got the list of all the folders up in the centre screen, I can rename or delete them through a left click on the 3 dots on the right. The same is true for the files within them. I don't understand why this was so hard to do but it seems to be working now.

[tyeik]

I have a similar issue to this post: https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Delete-edit-and-organize/Couldn-t-delete-item-I-can-t-delete-any-fol...

I am trying to delete an entire folder with many subfolders/files. Deleting the main folder says there are too many files to delete, try deleting with fewer files. If I navigate down to a subfolder with two files (each ~100 bytes), it still says too many files. If I try to delete a single file, I get the error "Couldn't delete 1 file".

This is on the website in AllFiles. I have never synced this folder to my computer that I am trying to delete. It is not shared with anyone and says "Only you" in "Who can access". I do not have the mobile app. I have tried deleting the files/folders in Firefox and Chrome.

Some of the folders I am able to delete, but for the majority of them, I get the error messages above.

[tyeik]

Oddly, after an hour it works. But shortly afterwards I get the error again.

[Nancy]

Thanks for bringing this to our attention, @tyeik. 

Can you please try to clear the cache of your main browser, and check for any pending updates that need to be installed/make sure you’re using the latest browser version? 

Also, it’d help if you restored your browser to its default settings and disabled any browser plugins.

[tyeik]

Thanks, @Nancy. I have cleared my cache. I do not have any add-ons. I do not have any pending updates. And I have reset the default settings. Moreover, I have tried to delete files on a completely different computer and have the same result.

[tyeik]

It would appear to me that if I hit the error "There are too many files in one request. Please retry with fewer files." then I cannot delete anything else again for quite some time. Even if I try to delete a folder with 0 files inside of it.

[Hannah]

Sorry to jump in, @tyeik, but the error you mentioned, does it refer to a file request?

[tyeik]

@Hannah .This error is only when I go to the … to the right of the folder, then click delete. For files, the delete simply gives the error “Couldn’t delete 1 file”.

[Megan]

Hey @tyeik, would you be able to send us a screenshot of the error, please? 

[tyeik]

@MeganI can provide a dropbox link to a video as well. But I would rather not post it here since it has some personal information in the file names I am trying to delete. Below are two screenshots, one of the error trying to delete a folder, the other when trying to delete a file.