deleted folder re appeared after a couple of years

[alex b.35]

Something very weird just happened with my dropbox account. Out of nowhere, a folder which was deletec about 2 years ago re appeared on my dropbox. It has the files as they were, which makes me wonder why the hell dropbox is still keeping these files after a few years that they have been deleted?

First I thought it was a hack, but then I checked all my devices and what was accessing my account and indeed, everything was as it was before.

It makes me think this is a serious bug and on another note, why the hell is dropbox keeping data that was deleted 2 years ago?

I'll surprised, scared and angry at the same time. I'm not even sure where to begin! I'm now wondering about several of my clients that use dropbox in their business if the same happens.

[miiiw]

This happened to me as well.. first thought I had been hacked because a folder of old photos (which I was not sure I ever kept) in dropbox reappered.

What is most shocking is that dropbox apparently keep files from 2010.... Will be *really* interesting to see dropbox adress this issue. Right now I feel that I will shut down my account....

[Filon A.]

Same issue here, apparently related with the latest windows version 17.4.33. This issue is a violent reminder that a file once it gets in the cloud it is never forgotten!

[JamesHancox]

Noticed here too... Actually very angry about this. When I deleted files, i liked that I had a window to recover if I made a mistake... But to now know that Dropbox has been storing files I deleted over 5years ago has really shaken my confidence and trust... Some of these files I'm pretty sure i even purged thinking they would be permenantly deleted and never recoverable (long time ago, might even be on another service).... Very angry.

In the mean time I highly recommend everyone change their passwords!! Also, go in and remove all other sessions and connected devices for now.

[alex b.35]

my main issue here is, files from many years ago have re appeared.

Files that dropbox should not keep have been kept without my knowledge.

It feels like NSA/CIA like agreement, what is next, share encryption keys with them? That is a very low blow from Dropbox!

That is what you get from trusting the "cloud", you don't own your data once it is there.

[JamesHancox]

I don't see how this could be related to any Windows version... I have, since deleting those files years ago, re-built completely or replaced entirely every device I have owned... So even if it was a cache file on my local machine, that file is long ago gone... Also, we're talking about large images and other files (Im a photographer), and an IT worker. There is no way that I missed having a single cache file over 4GB in size sitting in my local dropbox folder... Im also in beta on windows on both machines (One Pro, one Home), and the issue has occured. My laptop is currently release 170107...

So there just can't be any way that a local Operating System is at fault for files re-appearing after over 5 years that were deleted from the service... THe only explaination is that Dropbox has lied about storing of our files, and somehow that lie has just now been made public... 

[annemcg]

This just happened to me, too! Several folders, with all their contents, from as long ago as 2011. 

These were all folders I made, some of them shared with others at the time (most of them, if I remember correctly, but with a variety of different people) but none show as shared now. 

I deleted all these myself. I only use one computer, and the computer I had back then has long been wiped and donated. These seem to be coming from some memory vault at Dropbox. Creepy.

For now I'm not deleting them, in hopes that some sort of a reset makes them all go away again.

[annemcg]

Maybe, but I'm on a Mac and have the same problem.

[drg0nz0]

I had two huge folders appear from 2009 - from a computer I used at my previous employer! I must have signed in at some point to move some large files but wasn't even using Dropbox regularly. I've deleted all associated devices and the folders themselves. I think that computer is long dead so I am pretty shocked at Dropbox for keeping these files, and then placing them all these years into my account again - which technically was some kind of data security breach because these files had personal information. It also made me worried that my current files got synced to who knows what other devices! How is Dropbox going to explain this away?

[Andrew C.39]

Experiencing the same issue: my first ever issue like this with Dropbox. Please, please investigate - very disconcerting for data integrity, guys.

[Goddard]

I have the same issue as above, and I concur with the security concerns everyone said previously. Over 3GB of my data from 2009-2011 era were resynced. Not all files from this time period were affected though.