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Forum Discussion
Deleting files
Is there a definitive answer to whether deleting files from Dropbox will also delete those files from my hard drive? Also, if I can safely delete ONLY from Dropbox, this does not free up space?? I ca...
I don't really think it will delete your files from your device, when you delete it from your dropbox, if it asks you if you would like to delete the file from everywhere that will mean that it will delete it from your Dropbox.
Hope This Helps!
I've been struggling with a simlar issue the past few days. My partner shared a folder with me (she has a DropBox subscription through her work) and now it says my DropBox is full and wants me to upgrade.
I tried to delete some of my old stuff and got conflicting messages:
Some files had a popup saying "xyz will be deleted from your account and devices, but other members will still have access" even though they are not shared with anyone and I'm the owner.
Some files had a popup saying "Delete XYZ" from your DropBox account?" (i.e. no message about other members having access).
I've already saved what I want to my Documents folder on my PC (not the DropBox folder in Users) and I just want these files gone completely from DropBox, not sitting out there in the cloud and/or using up space allocation.
It has been very frustrating not being able to find a definitve answer to this here.
I need a simple answer: When I DELETE FROM ALL FOLDERS will my original DOCUMENTS AND PHOTOS file stay in my computer's hard drive so I can continue access to them?
- Lusil
Dropbox Staff
You'll find the steps to completely unsharing the folder, here.
Have a look and let me know how it goes, thanks!Thank you! That fixed it for me...
Well, if I delete from DROPBOX it will be deleted from everywhere in my computer...What in heck kind of a choice is that?! I surely will NOT keep using DROPBOX. Why doesn't the app allow one to choose to delete items ONLY from DROPBOX? That way I can choose what items I want to delete to make room on DROPBOX for only my most important items I want to be certain are preserved. When that happens, I'll rejoin
- LusilSorry for the confusion this might have caused, skipandsandy.
When you delete an item from your Dropbox folder, it'll only be deleted from there and the website. Anything outside of it will not be affected.
I hope this helped clarify matters, but let me know if you have any other questions. Cheers!
- LusilHey everyone, thanks for nudging us on the Dropbox Community.
If you delete a file from your Dropbox folder, it'll be deleted from your computer, the website, and any other devices that has the desktop app and mobile app installed.
If you've added your computer folders (like Documents, Downloads, and Desktop) to your Dropbox folder using computer backup, they'll follow the same process since they are a part of your Dropbox folder.
For example, if you remove a file that's part of your Documents folder, but it's backed up into your Dropbox account, then it'll be removed from your Dropbox account and your hard drive.
To stop using computer backup and move the files back to their original locations, you can turn the feature off by following the steps mentioned in this article.
Have a look and let me know if you have any other questions, thanks!I just scanned the article. It doesn't seem to address the conflicting error messages I got when trying to delete files, see my first post:
I tried to delete some of my old stuff and got conflicting messages:
Some files had a popup saying "xyz will be deleted from your account and devices, but other members will still have access" even though they are not shared with anyone and I'm the owner.
Some files had a popup saying "Delete XYZ" from your DropBox account?" (i.e. no message about other members having access).
