Logged in, got code: successful verification; but no files in my account.

[User2011]

All my files are missing. I have an account dating back to the early days like 2011 or maybe earlier.  I have changed laptops a few times yet the webapp has always worked fine. I see there's been a ton of work done to keep up with Google. Yet with all the great stuff - my files aren't in here. Yes it's been pre-pandemic that I logged in - so 3 years or so.... Where did my files go? Did they get lost when you ported the site during the upgrades? You must have a long term inactive storage with email warnings when you'll close an account - correct? My email is still the same. I use it every day. NO such emails were sent. Please advise how to restore my files.

[Nancy]

Welcome to the forum, @User2011!

Are you sure Dropbox didn’t send you any emails about your Dropbox account getting disabled due to inactivity at some point?

When accessing your Dropbox account the last time, were you able to normally see all of your files on www.dropbox.com?

Let me know.

[User2011]

The last correspondence was  12 Oct  2021 in fact and it was a confirmation that i gave google access to my drop box account...then an advert 6 JAN 2022 but just a promotion of desktop app...so I'm certain there are no deactivation notices now 100%. And i only have the one account. And yes the files were there normally the last time I looked.

Thx for checking on it.

[Hannah]

Hey @User2011, sorry to jump in here.

When you logged in to your account, were you prompted to set it up anew or did you just follow the normal sign-in process?

Because if you were prompted to create a new account, then the one previously using this email, was probably disabled due to inactivity, like Nancy mentioned.

If you go to your events page, do you see any activity related to those files?

Or is it possible they're in a Dropbox account under a different email address?

[User2011]

Hey, no problem @Hannah - logon was normal.  Just needed to do the new 2-step code thing verification to email address.

A long long time ago ... it was under a yahoo account but I ....wait... what...

OMG I'm getting old - I thought I just ported it over to my gmail and connected up my google account to my original acct.  But it was because my yahoo dropbox account is almost full.

Funny story - as a smart ass genX I used to store important files on my yahoo account - including my masters dissertation. I floored the panel of old people when one of the examiners had to call in from out of town unexpectedly. They set up a phone on a little plinth in front of me (yes with windy cord n all that happened to have the hands-free feature). He hadn't gotten the hard copy from his office inbox...yep. So the room was the only one with a new fangled internet connection - hardwire. So I plugged my old laptop (top of the line then) right in - logged into Yahoo and forwarded the presentation to him right there - he followed along as I said - "ok on the next slide".

The original cloud storage that few except Dropbox (years and years later ; ) spotted!

 Sorrry, I wasted your time...at least now I've successfully logged into the old account - I'll port and close it out to free up space...  occam's razor here... also Sherlock's: "when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth..." 

There's no way dropbox would delete without multiple notes and a back storage area dump just in case ; ) 

Thanks ALL - happy dropboxing