Deleted and emptied recycle bin not knowing it deleted my documents.

[nr15237]

I deleted Dropbox just thinking I was deleting files that were being stored.  I thought my documents would still be in Open Office.  I tried restoring files, and since it stopped syncing a long time ago, it did not restore the documents in Open Office that I did today or recently, for that matter.  That doesn't make sense to me.  Because if it wasn't syncing, why did it delete files from today?  I thought it would not affect anything on my laptop.  Is there any way I can get them back?  I couldn't system restore because it was not turned on (which I thought system restore was automatic).  HELP!  

[Mark]

Hi @nr15237 

Unless you can use some sort of system recovery on your device then no, it doesnt sound like you can. You seem to have enabled Dropbox Backup which moves things around and so things are inside the Dropbox folder when not clear. As you deleted them and emptied trash they are gone - and theyve not uploaded as it was off. 

https://help.dropbox.com/organize/how-to-use-dropbox-backup

[nr15237]

After much angst, the answer is they are gone forever.  Dropbox absolutely stinks.  No phone number.  Terrible response.  What a nightmare!  Thanks for responding!