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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! 
SKBJ's avatar
SKBJ
Explorer | Level 4

Exactly the same happened to me this week. Hundreds of files, all Word  + Excel docs vanished into thin air!! The folders are all there, other files extensions like PDF or jpeg are there but they don't concern me there's maybe 20-30 files of that kind, the W +E files are the ones I used for my client work. 

I am absolutely fuming that I keep getting responses that have nothing to do with solving the issue and taking responsibility.

 

If a person is a single user of a folder of course the events log will say "You added or You deleted" but I well know I did not do anything, I wasn't even at my computer at the time it happened and I was home so there's no chance someone sat at my computer and started moving things, plus it all happened in a few minutes....apparently in 1 minute alone "I" moved and equally deleted over 100 files...that's physically impossible!!

 

Now I see others experienced the same, so I too would like for Dropbox to start taking responsibility, but first off they need to restore all the files where they were, this is despicable!!

 

And thinking I was even considering moving to Dropbox for work. 

Not after this experience!

SKBJ's avatar
SKBJ
Explorer | Level 4
8 years ago

Just an update on the situation to give what is fair. They did a rollback of the account and the 1066 files that were in there, are back as they were or at least those I checked so far. Helpdesk assisted promptly and for that I am grateful.  

 

I was also informed ( I pass the info as I was given them), that the problem came from the Samsung synch with the Dropbox API.  

 

Apparently, Samsung has released a "deep integration process that doesn't agree well with Dropbox" and Db advises against the auto-synch. 

 

This is a bummer since I have been using the sync for the past 6 years on various Samsung phones without any issues, at the contrary it's proven very useful, besides to backing up pictures that I wouldn't be otherwise bothered to do, when my phone was stolen 3 years back, the auto-synch allowed me and ultimately the police to identify the thief and retrieve my phone. 

 

I'm not a tech, so I have to take the information at face-value, I have deactivated the synch for Dropbox but will install it to another cloud that's not Dropbox. 

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