Help needed! Important files lost due to Dropbox Sync

[Kenophlai]

1) I have installed dropbox in a laptop today morning, and accidentally clicked backup of documents and desktop folder
2) I noticed that dropbox is not syncing due to dropbox folder size >50gb
3) I clicked on dropbox to show hidden folder, then deleted the Desktop, Download, and my document folder inside the dropbox folder
4) because the deleted file size is >50gb, a pop-up window says files will be deleted permanently
5) I thought only the backup files will be deleted, but upon delete, all files are deleted (even those in the hard disk)

Since the initial file size is 50 GB, only 2gb of the files are in Dropbox restore history

Is there any way i can retrieve the 50 GB of data?

[Casper777]

Hi

I suggest you head over to www.dropbox.com and click on the Deleted Files option on the left hand side of your screen. Place a tick next to the files and folders you want to restore, then click Restore. The Dropbox app will download the files back to your computer. 

Hope it helps. 

Regards

Casper

[Kenophlai]

Hi, only 2gb of the files are restored, and not >50gb of the rest of the files

[Casper777]

Sounds to me that you are using the Basic plan (2GB limitation). 

1. Do you see any of your deleted files in the recycle bin of your computer?

2. On www.dropbox.com, do you still see files in the Deleted Files location? NB

3. Read this: https/help.dropbox.com/accounts-billing/security/missing-reappearing-corrupted-files

4. Contact Dropbox support (bottom of above link)

Hope you get your files back! Keep us posted!

Regards

Casper

[Kenophlai]

Hi Casper,

1. Do you see any of your deleted files in the recycle bin of your computer?
No. Its' 50gb of files, so it was deleted permanently.
I didn't know that the folder in my Dropbox IS THE ORIGINAL FILE.(so my original file is actually MOVED to another location. I didn't anticipate that)
I thought its a backup, so I deleted the folders

2. On www.dropbox.com, do you still see files in the Deleted Files location? 

No. Only 2gb is uploaded, the rest is GONE.

3. Read this: https/help.dropbox.com/accounts-billing/security/missing-reappearing-corrupted-files

read, didn't help

[Kenophlai]

I would like to uninstall dropbox for now.

Since the original folders are MOVED to the dropbox folder, what is the safest way to uninstall dropbox to prevent further data loss?

[Casper777]

@WalterWill you be able to assist here? My thinging here is as the files were never uploaded to Dropbox (except the 2GB that was retored) the rest of the 50GB cannot be restored, but I do not want to be the bearer of bad news.

Regards

Casper

[Casper777]

Hi

You can follow the instructions here: https/help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/desktop/uninstall-dropbox

Regards

Casper

[Kenophlai]

Hi Casper, will the files (2gb of desktop/document/download) be deleted if dropbox is uninstalled?
Are the original folders MOVED to dropbox folder?

[Casper777]

Hi Kenophlai

The backup option of Dropbox moves the Desktop, Documents and Downloads folders into your normal Dropbox folder.

Uninstalling the Dropbox desktop application will NOT delete the Dropbox folder or your files from your computer. The Dropbox folder will remain in your CUsers\*Username* folder. From there you can move the files out of the Dropbox folder and to where you want to store it on your local computer. After that, you can delete the Dropbox folder on your local computer. Sometimes you need to reboot your computer in order to remove the previously used Dropbox folder.

Uninstalling the Dropbox desktop application will also not delete the files that remains (if any) in your www.dropbox.com storage location. It needs to be manually deleted from there.

Sorry that you had this experience. Hopefully you have a copy of your data stored on another hard drive somewhere.

Hope it helps.

Regards

Casper