I shared a folder and someone deleted the files...

[doddle]

I shared a folder I own with family and someone deleted the files thinking they were just deleting them off their PC as they needed the space. I didn't get a notification and now it's 3 months later and too late to restore them. All my notifications are on. Is this normal Dropbox behaviour? Shouldn't it have notified me so I could have done something?

[Mark · Accepted solution]

Yes that is normal behaviour I'm afraid - Dropbox does not notify you of every change in a shared folder as there are safeguards in place for when people delete things like this (i.e. the other person is told the first time they delete things in a share it deletes for everybody and do they want to continue). 

[doddle]

Thank you. But disappointing.

[EventHorizon]

We use Dropbox essentially as a shared drive. So this sounds like a person either through ignorance or malice could simply remove files and if no one else notices they are gone forever? Is there any security to prevent this from happening? Or put another way, how do users implement a secure backup system?

[Jay]

Hi @EventHorizon, there isn't any option to prevent files from being deleted, unless you're in a shared folder with read-only access. 

You would still have some time to restore files via the events page or the deleted files page.

[Mark]

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@EventHorizon wrote:

 Or put another way, how do users implement a secure backup system?

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You really should already have a backup system in place to cover things like this, or, even malware etc. You can help protect by being paid which gives 180 days of recovery but you should ALWAYS have additional backups in place and preferably via different systems/tools.