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Forum Discussion
What happens when I delete shared folders and files?
I was provided access to files and folders. When I delete the files, does it delete them for everyone that has shared access to the folder? What about permanently deleted files? Can the other members still access those under their deleted folder?
Hey Rever3, If you have Edit permission, once you delete something, it will also be deleted for every member of the shared folder. However, you won't be able to permanently delete a file unless you are a owner of the shared folder. All members can see the deleted files in Deleted Files tab, and restore them within the time frame (which is 30 days for Basic and Plus users, and 120 days for Business and Pro users).
[Moderator Note: This has changed since 2018: Dropbox Basic, Plus, and Family customers have 30 days while Dropbox Professional, Standard, Advanced, and Enterprise customers have 180 days of version history.]
Hey Rever3, If you have Edit permission, once you delete something, it will also be deleted for every member of the shared folder. However, you won't be able to permanently delete a file unless you are a owner of the shared folder. All members can see the deleted files in Deleted Files tab, and restore them within the time frame (which is 30 days for Basic and Plus users, and 120 days for Business and Pro users).
[Moderator Note: This has changed since 2018: Dropbox Basic, Plus, and Family customers have 30 days while Dropbox Professional, Standard, Advanced, and Enterprise customers have 180 days of version history.]
Good to know. Thank you for your quick response!
How can I tell if I have editing priviledges? And if I do, how can I delelte files and folders that were shared with me from my dropbox without deleting them for everyone else? Thanks.
hmmm... you mean if I were the owner of the share folder, then I delete the folder, then all member will lose their shared folder also, don't you?
- Rich
Super User II
leilfataya wrote:
you mean if I were the owner of the share folder, then I delete the folder, then all member will lose their shared folder also, don't you?
No. If you simply delete the folder, you're removing it for just you and you'll have the ability to add it back to your Dropbox later. Other members will retain their access to the folder.
If you delete the content of the shared folder, that deletion would sync to all members and their copy of the files would be deleted as well.
Hi. To clarify the point about deleting files in a shared folder, I think what you are saying is that as a person with edit rights, I can delete any files in the folder that I or others have created. All files I delete are placed in the deleted files section for a period of time. The files I delete that were created by me will automatically be permanently deleted after a set number of days. The files I delete for which I am not the creator will remain in the deleted file section until the creator of that file goes into the deleted file section and permanenly deletes the file. Is this correct?
- Lusil
Dropbox Staff
You're on the mark, swhill.
You can find more info about how to delete files, in this article, and what happens to them, in this one.
Also, you can check out some additional info on the permissions that editors and viewers of a shared folder have, here.
Let me know if you have any other questions, thanks!
