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awilson576's avatar
awilson576
Helpful | Level 6
11 months ago

I deleted my dropbox and it deleted my desktop and documents folders. How can i restore them?

Hi everyone,    I downgraded my Dropbox account, and because it had been syncing my desktop and documents folders, I was over the storage limit for the free account.    I tried to follow the ...
Delete
Desktop
Dropbox Backup
Restore
  • awilson576's avatar
    awilson576
    11 months ago

    nevermind, i did a force quit of Finder and it fixed the Desktop issue

     

awilson576's avatar
awilson576
Helpful | Level 6
11 months ago

I re-created my dropbox account with the same email in order to be able to post in this chat, but the files aren't there. 

There's also nothing in the Bin folder of my mac

Tried creating new folders to act as Desktop and Documents and added alias folders but no use. 

 

 

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    11 months ago

    Hi there awilson576 -I'm sorry to hear about this.

     

    Since you've deleted your Dropbox account as well, apart from uninstalling the app, I'm afraid we won't be able to help much with restoring any files you had stored there.

     

    Have you tried looking for them locally on your computer, be it in their original locations or the recycle bin/trash can? 

     

    As for your computer's OS folders, have you tried resetting their folder paths?  

     

    Keep us posted with any updates!

    • awilson576's avatar
      awilson576
      Helpful | Level 6
      11 months ago

      Thanks for your reply Walter. 

      The rubbish bin folder on my mac only contains files that I had deleted prior to deleting the dropbox account. 

      The 'original locations' eg the Desktop and Documents folders are missing. 

      How do I reset the folder paths?

      I've tried creating new folders, 'DesktopNew' and 'Docs' 

       

       

      Dropbox needs much clearer warnings about the possibility of this happening when you delete your account, plus much clearer information about how to stop sync and reduce dropbox storage when you downgrade - please pass that on. 

      • Megan's avatar
        Megan
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        11 months ago

        Hey awilson576, thanks for replying back! 

         

        To answer your question about the reset of the folder paths, you can see more about this here. 

         

        However, I'm not sure this will help, since the content has already been deleted. It would help if you did this prior to the deletion of your account, but by all means please give this a go. 

         

        As for deleting your account, there is a relative warning that informs you on what happens when you're about to delete your account, and that all of your files and folders will be permanently removed, however I'd be happy to forward your feedback to the appropriate areas so we can continue to improve.

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