How best to delete files in one account that's on several computers and other devices?

[BaliDave]

I have one Dropbox account that is used on 3  Windows computers and a few devices (phone, tablet). In cleaning up some space in my account, I deleted files on my main computer from Dropbox, thru both Windows Explorer and the Dropbox Client.  But the other computers still have the files -- but I want them out of my account and deleted everywhere.   Other than going to the web interface to delete or individually deleting from all comptuers/devices, how can I get all these deleted from everywhere?  Deleting files from the DB Client does not give me any option about deleting everywhere, it just deletes them locally.  Deleting from the web interface is a very klunky way if I have many files/folders to delete.  And is there any difference between deleting files/folders using Win Explorer or using the DB client? Any suggestions?

[Jay]

Hi @BaliDave, thanks for joining the Community!

When you delete files via the desktop device, the deletions would sync to the site, and then to other devices.

Deleting from the site would act the same way, deleting from all connected devices afterwards.

Are you certain that the computer you're deleting them from has the desktop app running and syncing normally? Are the other machines running as normal with the app?

This will help me to assist further!

[BaliDave]

Jay,  thanks for the quick reply.  Yes, all machines are running Dropbox and the same acct.  Maybe I just need to wait longer.  Some files I deleted look to be gone on at least one other pc, but not other files.  For example, I'd deleted Camera Uploads on my desktop, but not on my laptop.  Later I see that it reappeared on my desktop iwith a lot of old pics.

Not sure what else I can tell you.  I'll try some more expts and see what happens, but I wasn't clear to me about any diffs that might result from deleting files/folders via Explorer, DB Client, or on the web, so I wanted to clarify that before proceeding.  So you're saying that any of those ways should delete from all, correct?'

[Jay]

That's correct, adding, editing or deleting files from one device would do the same on the others, assuming that the desktop app was syncing normally. 

It could be a matter of waiting if the bandwidth speed is slow for your internet connection.

When you hover over the app which did the deletion, does the app say syncing, or up to date when you hover over the icon in the system tray?

[BaliDave]

[BTW, I'm GMT+8 now, so probably quite diff time zone from you, and just getting up. ]  Both computers say up-to-date, tho some of the deleted files are still appearing on the laptop -- for example there's a 1 GB diff in amount of space, predominantly in 2 folders.  I deleted them on the desktop, but they're still there on the laptop.  Both computers say no-sync errors.  And the deleted files/folders on the desktop, still show up on the web interface.

[Jay]

Could you forward screenshots of where these files appear to be deleted on one computer, and yet still visible on the other, while hiding any person info?

[BaliDave]

Yes.  Above is a screenshot of the Win Explorer view of my desktop file situation, looking at the Photos/Daves pics/ folder in Win Explorer and   DB Client (on the same computer); DB Client still has lots in there, but Explorer says that dir is empty.

Below is a screenshot of my laptop of the same folder, which agrees with what DB Client (on both and internet) says, but not what my desktop Explorer says.   BTW, there's lots of pics in some of those folders.

Let me know what else might help -- I'll supply whatever needed.

Thanks,

Dave

[Jay · Accepted solution]

Do you know if you have selective sync enabled on the Dropbox desktop application?

I don't see any icons on the folders either, so it's possible the app isn't running, or you have the issue with the overlays not being visible due to this behavior.

Could you try the steps in that article to see if they can help so we can see if the folders are up to date on both machines?

[BaliDave]

Ahh! That was the problem.  Somehow my "official" DB folder was on my C drive and not the one it used to be, on my F drive (internal disk).  So my deleting files/folders there (on F) wasn't being seen by Dropbox at all.  Since the F version had the Dropbox icon, I thought it was the real one.  Sigh!  I have no idea about how this happened, except possibly 2 years ago when I bought this new desktop, tho I think I would've noticed things not syncing.  I fixed it now.

Anyhow many thanks for your perseverance and my apologies for leading you on this wild goose chase.

[Jay]

Not a problem, @BaliDave, I'm happy to hear that you were able to locate the issue and resolve it on your end.

Enjoy the remainder of your week!