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Forum Discussion
How to remove old, non active Dropbox installation from Windows 10
Hello all!
I installed Dropbox on my Windows 10 PC many years ago. The install location was the L: drive.
Two years ago I did a fresh install of Windows 10. I had to reinstall Dropbox. This time it was installed on my C: drive.
For the last two years, I have had 2 Dropbox folders on my system. The original L: drive - a zombie folder that doesn't sync and the C: drive install - this is the active folder that syncs.
My C: drive is substantially smaller than my L: drive and I want to move the active folder back to L:
Step 1 was to follow instructions for a move: https://help.dropbox.com/installs-integrations/desktop/move-dropbox-folder
This gave an error that a Dropbox folder already exists on L:
Step 2 was to delete the old zombie folder on L:
Everything was deleted except 5 folders that are shared with me (I am not the owner of these files).
I read through the community and some Dropbox help files for guidance. I've changed the permissions of the desktop files so that I have full permissions.
Using the online Dropbox interface, I removed myself from these 5 shared folders. Because this old L: install doesn't sync with my account, this removal was not noticed on the desktop files. My removal was noted on the desktop files in the actively syncing C: install.
Any ideas of how to remove this old install are greatly appreciated.
TL;DR: Installed Dropbox on drive L: Updated PC and reinstalled Dropbox which created a new install on C: Can't remove the old L: install because the PC seems to remember that I am not the owner of these files even though this old Dropbox Desktop folder no longer syncs.
I got the folder deleted. First I was able to move the two sub-folders from the Dropbox folder and put them in C:\Temp. Then I could delete the Dropbx folder. That really did not solve the problems because I still could not delete the now moved sub-folders. But I was now in a simpler environment.
After much trial and error, I found this worked.
For each sub-folder, I clicked in Properties and then Security. Then I clicked on Advanced. There was a Deny permission entry for "Special" access. I highlighted that and clicked om Edit. I clicked on Show Advanced Permissions. Included in that list were checked Advanced Persmission for Delete and Delete Subfolder and Files. Eureka, might those Deny Delete special permissions that have something to do with not being able to delete those files?
I clicked on Cancel to get back to the Advanced window. I highlighted the "deny" Special access entry again. I checked "Replace all child ....". I clicked on Remove. I clicked Yes in the confirm action box that popped up. A progress window flashed by and I was back at the Properties window. The Deny Special permission was deleted. I clicked on OK. The Properties window disappeared and I right-clicked on the folder and selected delete. I was asked to confirm if I wanted to permanently delete it. I responded yes. AND IT WORKED! The folder was now deleted.
- Hannah
Dropbox Staff
Hey Danyel, thanks for reaching out to our Community.
The default location of the Dropbox folder is the C: drive, that's why it was saved there, when you reinstalled Dropbox.
And you can't have two Dropbox folders in the same drive, that's why you couldn't move it to L:.
If you want your active Dropbox folder in the L: drive, you'd need to rename the old/existing Dropbox folder to "Dropbox (old)" or something similar.
You will then be able to move the Dropbox folder, using the steps in the article you linked in your post.
And if you want the files in the old Dropbox folder to sync to your Dropbox account, you can just cut/paste them in the active Dropbox folder.
Let me know how it goes.
Thanks for this reply, Hannah.
Yes, I was successful in renaming the old L installation which allowed me to use the Move tool to move the folder from C to L.
I'm still unable to delete the now "OLD Dropbox" folder which still contains 5 shared folders (I am not the owner of the 5 folders) and is taking up 300+ GB that I'd love to reclaim on my hard drive.
- Nancy
Hi Danyel, I hope you’re doing well.
It’s a bit odd indeed that you’re unable to delete the old Dropbox folder, since it’s no longer syncing to your account.
Do you receive the same kind of error even if you try to move these folders out of the old Dropbox folder (instead of deleting it)?
