Delete, edit, and organize
Solve issues with deleting, editing, and organizing files and folders in your Dropbox account with support from the Dropbox Community.
I had this problem and putting a file in the folder did not resolve it, it immediately re-created the folder after I deleted it from the Finder (Mac 10.13.3). What did work was to choose Pause Syncing from the Dropbox menu bar widget, delete the file in Finder, then create a new folder with the same name (this is what I was trying to do in the first place). After resuming syncing, it left it alone.
Many thanks to the Dropbox team - especially Walter for helping me resolve this issue. In my case one fo the 9 sharers of a top level folder was adding back a multi layered sub folder, containing no files, each time the administrator attempted to delete it. All sharers told me that they had attempted to delete the reappearing folder........drilling down by the DB team revealed the culprit who hadnt actually made an attempt to delete but merely said he had! Deletion done and all fixed.....woohoo, champagne celebration! but....
How do you fault find without using the DB team in this case? Two options: make use of Event History and Version History. Using event history showed where I had attempted to delete the folder but did not show who added it back. Version history would not have worked as it only applies to actual files and not folders (this folder structure contained no files). I would suggest adding in a file, delete the folder structure, if it all reappears then check the version history of the individual file - it should show you deleting it and then should reveal who is adding it back. Note the use of "should"! What seems clear is that there are numerous ways that this "reappearing ghost" problem can be solved. Perhaps DB could set up a really detailed help page, that can be easily found, that covers all the myriad permutations of this challenging problem.
Once again - big thank you to the DB team for their prompt and detailed assistance. GuyM
Russell R.1 - Do you really think that we are that stupid?????? we have deleted via the browser, we have unsynced and resynced our devices, we have added a file then tried to delete the folder only for an empty folder to come back, we have done all this in the browser on every machine (across 3 continents!) and still the sub folders reappear. They are not the root shared folder and as the admin of this shared folder I cannot delete and empty the folder (with empty sub folders) on any device or from the browser. I have systematically gone through all the solution over the nine pages of this thread and have found no workable solution. The only thing that save my sanity is that I have selectively unsynced the offending folder from my own devices......but all that does is hide the offender from my sight - it does not solve the problem! Dropbox FFS solve this would you.
Jane
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support
Did this post help you? If so please give it a Like below.
Did this post fix your issue/answer your question? If so please press the 'Accept as Best Answer' button to help others find it.
Still stuck? Ask me a question! (Questions asked in the community will likely receive an answer within 4 hours!)
Norah
Moderator @ Dropbox
https://dropbox.com/support
Did this post help you? If so please mark it for some Kudos below.
Did this post fix your issue/answer your question? If so please press the 'Accept as Solution' button to help others find it.
Still stuck? Ask me a question! (Questions asked in the community will likely receive an answer within 4 hours!)
Hi Jane and Norah, Sorry for the delay but I was away for a few days. Many thanks for your responses but the issue is still not resolved. To clarify the problem: I am the owner of a shared folder inside which are three main folders (each with a very large number of sub folders). I wish to delete one of the folders which was a drag and drop error by a user at some point. There are 5 layers of sub folders in this folder but no files in any of these sub folders. The 9 sharers have all attempted to remove the folder from our devices and I have repeatedly attempted to delete from the website as the administrator, yet it still reappears. I do not want to unshare the top level if at all possible but to merely delete this one folder and it's subs. I can see no way of unsharing this lower level (second tier) folder - if there is please put me out of my extended misery!
Norah
Moderator @ Dropbox
https://dropbox.com/support
Did this post help you? If so please mark it for some Kudos below.
Did this post fix your issue/answer your question? If so please press the 'Accept as Solution' button to help others find it.
Still stuck? Ask me a question! (Questions asked in the community will likely receive an answer within 4 hours!)
Norah
Moderator @ Dropbox
https://dropbox.com/support
Did this post help you? If so please mark it for some Kudos below.
Did this post fix your issue/answer your question? If so please press the 'Accept as Solution' button to help others find it.
Still stuck? Ask me a question! (Questions asked in the community will likely receive an answer within 4 hours!)
Many thanks to the Dropbox team - especially Walter for helping me resolve this issue. In my case one fo the 9 sharers of a top level folder was adding back a multi layered sub folder, containing no files, each time the administrator attempted to delete it. All sharers told me that they had attempted to delete the reappearing folder........drilling down by the DB team revealed the culprit who hadnt actually made an attempt to delete but merely said he had! Deletion done and all fixed.....woohoo, champagne celebration! but....
How do you fault find without using the DB team in this case? Two options: make use of Event History and Version History. Using event history showed where I had attempted to delete the folder but did not show who added it back. Version history would not have worked as it only applies to actual files and not folders (this folder structure contained no files). I would suggest adding in a file, delete the folder structure, if it all reappears then check the version history of the individual file - it should show you deleting it and then should reveal who is adding it back. Note the use of "should"! What seems clear is that there are numerous ways that this "reappearing ghost" problem can be solved. Perhaps DB could set up a really detailed help page, that can be easily found, that covers all the myriad permutations of this challenging problem.
Once again - big thank you to the DB team for their prompt and detailed assistance. GuyM
Thank you for your kind reply Guy - I am glad we could figure this out together.
In any case, I wanted you to know that I have gathered all of your feedback in regards to this issue and I will be passing them along to our dev team for consideration - thank you for that!
Once again I am happy we sorted this out and note that you can always reach out to us on any of our official support channels with any questions you might have. We'll be glad to assist in any possible way.
Have a lovely day!
Walter
Community Moderator @ Dropbox
dropbox.com/support
Did this post help you? If so, give it a Like below to let us know.
Need help with something else? Ask me a question!
Find Tips & Tricks Discover more ways to use Dropbox here!
Interested in Community Groups? Click here to join
Hi there!
If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for a ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.
For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.
If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!