How do I delete files from Dropbox without deleting them from my computer and other devices?

I have never had a reply from the Community on this. Tommarinotax, you are in the same position as myself, it seems. We want control over Dropbox and we do not want Dropbox to control ANY of our devices. We are hoping to get a reply from the Community, from someone who understands this dilemma. It is possible I have totally misunderstood the functions of Dropbox. If so, what I am looking for is:  (a) Some way of moving a very limited number of files onto a Cyberspace area which I can access from my ipad or iphone when I am out of the office without my laptop; (b) I need to be able to delete these files I've temporarily put onto Dropbox when I want to eg. a week later when I have other priorities for the iPad and iPhone. 

Hey there AJ1111!

Any changes made to the Dropbox folder on your computer will sync to your account online.

So when you move a file outside of the Dropbox folder, you're removing this file from your Dropbox account, which is why you see those options. 

If you want to remove the file from your Dropbox folder, then you can choose "Delete from all devices" to remove it from your Dropbox account.

I hope this helps, let me know if you have any questions!

Hi Daphne,

I read all of your answers, and must say how impressed I am with your patience. 

And as a newbie to Dropbox, I had the same concerns as everyone else. I certainly didn't want to lose any of my files. But I think I finally figured it out.

I only use my computer and Dropbox. So when I MOVE a file from Dropbox to my computer it will be on my computer. But if I moved it to (not copied) the file to Dropbox, and i delete it from Dropbox, of course there won't be a copy left on my computer. But if I had copied it to Dropbox then the original would still exist on my computer.

I think when the Dropbox message says do you want to remove it from Dropbox and all of your devices it is in reality saying - if you move this file from Dropbox, it will not be available to any of your OTHER devices. And it is also a warning to tell us that if we are removing a file from Dropobox and we have not kept a copy on our computer or other device, it will in fact be moved from ALL of our devices, including our computer.

I hope I am right, please feel free to correct any errors I made (so no one will lose files if I'm wrong). I am hoping this helps someone else.

Thank you Daphne for all of your explanations. I really thought it would take a lot longer to find an answer.  Have a good day.

Colorworks

Hi Colorworks, thank you so much for your kind comments!

All that you mentioned there is indeed correct. I'm sure that this will be helpful for others looking for the same answers so thank for taking the time to share your post with us here. :grin:

If there's anything else that I can help with, don't hesitate to give me a nudge anytime.

I hope you have a great week ahead!

Hi,

I read this whole thread and thought i understood it.  I saw in File  Explorer that Dropbox had created a folder on my hard drive that duplicated my downloads and documents folders.  So i figured i could delete the folders in Dropbox and i did so.  But i guess since i had uninstalled dropbox from my hard drive it didn't delete the files on my PC.  Then when i deleted the Dropbox folder on my hard drive it also deleted the original files on the hard drive.

I used dropbox several years ago and it didn't take control of my PC like it does now.  I just want to store and share a few files.  i don't want dropbox to automatically backup my PC files and i don't want it making folders on my hard drive.  I restored the deleted files in dropbox but now if i copy them back to my computer i'll be in the same situation with a full dropbox and dropbox meddling in my PC.  Very unsatisfactory.

How can i get back to where i was before i signed up for dropbox and before it backed up my files?

Yes, it's possible i have misunderstood as well, what is the function of dropbox.  It weems very different from a few years ago when i could store files in dropbox and there was no connection to or control over my PC.  Google drive seems to fill the bill though i'm not totally satisfied with the user interface.  Google drive also provides 15GB in the free account.

Hey there peeps, thanks for your updates here!

From what you've mentioned tommarinotax, you enabled the computer backup feature when installing the Dropbox app on your computer. You can check out more about this feature here.

Were you able to restore the files that you deleted when deleting the Dropbox folder from your computer?

Also, Anna456 I can see that your previous posts both received a response from both myself and Super User Rich previously, did you miss those perhaps?

Have you also enabled the backup of your Desktop, Downloads and Documents folders on your computer? If so, you can disable this with the steps outlined here so that you can just choose which files to move into the Dropbox folder on your computer to sync with your other devices.

When you no longer need to have the file in Dropbox, you can simply move it out of the Dropbox folder on your computer as I outlined in my previous reply to you here.

Hi Daphne,

Thanks for your response.  I tried to turn off computer backup per the instructions at the link you provided, but i can't access preferences it's locked.  I'm really getting frustrated - all my settings are defaulted to a location that no longer exists.  I just want to get my downloads and desktop back without dropbox as part of the file path.  This is incredible how dropbox won't let me back to the way i was before.  i don't understand how this is possible, i've never had software intrude on my pc like dropbox has.

I think i'm finally free of Dropbox.  I saved the files that dropbox had "owned" in a secret location, then deleted dropbox from my PC, then deleted my account at dropbox.  It took awhile to permanently delete all dropbox folders from my PC, they are very persistent.

Thanks for getting back to me here tommarinotax.

It's rather strange what you mentioned that the Preferences were locked, this is not something that I believe is possible. However, I'm glad to hear that you seem to have resolve the issue your own way.

If there's anything else I can help with, please do let me know.

Thanks!