A few ways actuallyâŠ
Firstly, if you install your Dropbox folder to an external drive, then there are always deletion risks, and I have listed them in a separate thread, which can be found here. However, Iâll repeat them in this thread later for the sake of convenience.
Secondly, when I talk about deletions, I literally mean this definition: âDropbox cannot see the file any more, so the file is deletedâ.
The question you should be asking is, âWhy cannot Dropbox see the file? Where did it go?â
Deletions to Dropbox mean any deletions done on the site, the mobile app, third party apps, and of course the desktop app.
All of these versions connect to Dropbox in more-or-less same way, meaning that they detect changes, and then change the files on the site, which then syncs to all devices.
I know youâve heard this all before, but this is an incredibly important thing to understand.
Syncing only acts if there is something to sync.
The app doesnât do things on its own because it feels like it. If youâre staring at an empty spreadsheet, itâs not going to suddenly populate with your numbers and bar charts. A blank Word document doesnât begin typing out your final year dissertation without your input.
The opposite is also true, a document doesnât slowly delete characters until youâve lost all your writing, or formulas, without you touching the keyboard.
This is just how Dropbox works, except for entire files and folders. If youâre staring at your Finder or Windows Explorer window blankly for an hour, even outside the Dropbox folder, (almost) nothing will change in front of your eyes, since youâre not using the computer.
I mention the âalmostâ part, since this is the crux of the matter. Narrowing down what made this âalmost nothingâ to âdefinitely somethingâ is the goal of this post.
