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Revise mobile app to avoid inadvertent deletion of files
I suggest Dropbox modify its mobile app to avoid inadvertent deletion of files from the Dropbox account. "Delete" now removes the file from the entire Dropbox account, not just from the mobile device, but the app does not make that clear. The reason for my suggestion is because how to delete a file from only the mobile device is not intuitive. I now know it can be done by tapping the ellipsis (...) and then toggling "make available offline" to the "off" position. However, before I discovered that procedure, I accidentally deleted a couple of valued files from my Dropbox account (fortunately, I had them elsewhere and was able to restore them). I think the best way fix this would be to have two buttons: "Delete from mobile device" and "Delete file from account" (or something similar). An alternative would be have tapping the "Delete" button produce a warning that it deletes the file from the account, with a link/instruction how to proceed if the user only wants to delete the file from their mobile device.
Deleting multiple duplicated in a single operation
I often find duplicate photos in several folders using the 'Find duplicates' feature. Currently, I have to delete selected photos from each duplicate set one by one. It would be helpful if I could select all the photos I want to delete across multiple sets and remove them in a single operation. This would make managing duplicates much faster and more efficient.
Delete docs in signatures
This idea included below was discarded by your team for lack of activity. However, I did see that my idea received 2 positive votes by other customers. I can certainly understand shelving the idea because you have bigger fish to fry. But to discard it outright makes no sense to me. This is not an idea so much as it is an observation of an obvious oversight. Not being able to delete docs that you no longer wish to store on a data storage platform that charges for data storage is a glitch that needs to be fixed. Please reconsider this "idea." Thanks. ============================ When I have completed an e-signature process on a doc and have saved the signed doc elsewhere, I would like to be able to delete that doc from the signatures section of the platform. At present, I am not able to do that. I use that section of the platform to manage my doc signature process and be able to instantly see which docs are in process. Once the doc has been signed, I no longer want to see that doc in that section. It gets cluttered. Plus, the platform charges for data storage. So the idea that I can't delete docs that I no longer wish to store lacks a certain aesthetic to the platform experience overall.
Safeguard data on sudden drive-failure to avoid accidental deletions
The following issue cannot get solved by using any setting inside Dropbox or by external precautions – such as alerts on OS-level. Staff should find a support ticket on the problem I describe. A few months ago, we ran into a sudden mass deletion of all Dropbox data. It turned out that the reason was trivial – and that the same could happen again any day. An M2 SSD drive screwed into a Laptop didn’t sit perfectly tight in its slot and its pins had lost contact. This drive was used for Dropbox (local storage). Dropbox interpreted this loss of contact with the drive as full deletion and silently nuked all files we store on Dropbox (in Cloud + all attached machines). Technically, it's the same data loss you'll experience when you unplug an external drive with Dropbox running while the machine on. As we work with large files, we run Dropbox in a fashion that leaves all data on local machines and cloud-syncs it. Whenever a drive fails, it will therefore erase all Dropbox data. Rollbacks via Dropbox may help recover data. Yet, nothing can protect our Dropbox volume (hundreds of GB) from getting cleared in the first place. Any app or website that references data stored on Dropbox obviously would get affected by full data removal. This could cause substantial initial damage (blank pages, due to missing data) and likely lots of clean-up-work (once data got recovered). We already considered options to sniff out unexpected directory write operations – here's a Microsoft tool one may use on Windows. Such a tool, however, even when perfectly configured (shuts down local Dropbox when self-destruction is detected) would only rescue Dropbox data on local machines. Any 3rd party references to Dropbox data would still break – as they plug into Dropbox Cloud storage, which still gets nuked when a drive suddenly dies or disconnects. We would therefore like to see a mechanism for paid Dropbox tiers that kicks in, as soon as a computer logged into Dropbox issues the deletion of the full Dropbox volume. Dropbox should stop executing this command on its cloud instance and all drives machines it still can access and ask Admins (via E-Mail / Push Message), how it should proceed: A computer logged into this acount has requested to delete all files on Dropbox. The name of this machine is [“human-readable Computer Name”], Would you like to proceed? If yes, please enter your Dropbox Password. ⚠ This message may also get caused by a hardware error on the computer in question. As long as you do not confirm by entering your Dropbox password, no data will be deleted in the cloud or on connected computers. Enter password to delete all Dropbox data | Cancel delete operation Please consider this addition. It requires practically no GUI and would not introduce workflow changes. Yet, this little change would bring Dropbox data integrity to the next level.
