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currentcapital's avatar
currentcapital
Helpful | Level 6
8 years ago

Randomly deleted files and folders

Anyone else experiencing files and folders being deleted from Dropbox without human intervention?   I know that I'm going to get the stock Dropbox answer here that it can't happen, but I can expl...
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  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    7 years ago
     
    Hey Daz, 
     
    Welcome to the Dropbox Community, let me send over some tips below regarding your inquiry and we’ll take it from there! 
     
     SKBJ ‘s reply could point you towards the right direction, though you may need to dig deeper, depending on the behavior you’ve noticed. 
     
    Firstly, as Dropbox syncs any files added to it, a virus or malicious software would get updated to all computers linked to the account accordingly. If the virus or malicious software is in a shared folder, shared folder members and computers may also be affected. That being said, I’d strongly recommend removing it as soon as possible, as it’ll definitely create more issues in the long run. 
     
    Secondly, it recently came to attention that connecting or pointing external locations (i.e. Symlinking them) to your Dropbox folder might cause unexpected behavior, so it may appear to you as if files are randomly deleted. That being said, I’d advise you to have a look intro this as well, just as a possible scenario. 
     
    Regardless of the cause, if you need further clarifications or you’d like your account reverted back to a particular point in time, my advice would be to reach out directly to our team, who’ll guide you through the necessary steps and actions you’d need to take, so as to revert back to normal operations. 
     
    If you decide to go per my advice above, you may keep in mind that I’m always here to pursue a resolution, so please let me know a ticket ID I could reference in your next reply. 
     
    I’m looking forward to hearing back from you on this discussion! 
Ann B.17's avatar
Ann B.17
New member | Level 2

I just upgraded to pro and while deleting one small file several large FOLDERS were deleted (about 2-3 hours ago). I certainly did not have them checked to delete and some had personal business files/folders that I had set up a couple of years ago for security. Now the files are gone forever I am afraid. Just last night and today I had spent hours on a multiple folder collection containing pictures from a special event. These were important and do not even show up in the deleted folder so I can't reinstall them. The reinstall is working as I checked it by reinstalling another folder that was uninstalled previously.

So, I just had the same thing happen in a matter of seconds as you did. Any answers so far?

 

Yes, they were random also.                         Date: 1-17-2017

 

currentcapital's avatar
currentcapital
Helpful | Level 6
8 years ago

@Ann B.17

 

Unfortunately no answer for you yet. And don't hold out hope that Dropbox support will help either. 

 

The only thing I can suggest is to get a list of the events and ask Dropbox support to do the reinstall. It puts everything back where it was at that time, which hopefully will give you back the files/folders you lost.

 

I'm using Dropbox for Business, but assume Pro will have a similar structure:

 

Let me know how you get on - hopefully everything comes back for you.

 

Cheers

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