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Joos's avatar
Joos
Explorer | Level 3
2 years ago

How to delete an old account, with no access to email?

My colleague has a problem with an older Dropbox-account which he wants to delete, but he doesn’t speak English. So I put the question to you in his name and I will give him a translation to Dutch of your answer.

His name is [removed*] and his current basic account login is [removed*]. He can’t synchronize because he seems to have used the maximum of space available.

Formerly he had an account login as [removed*] but this email address doesn’t exist anymore. Probably this account still exists, and is the cause of the overload of his basic account. He doesn’t remember the password for that login either. So he is unable to login to that old account: when he tries to login with “password forgotten”, a mail will be sent to his old email address that he cannot read and no longer exists. Can you help him to delete his old Dropbox account on [removed*]?

With his current account [removed*] he shares a few folders with [removed*] but the amount of space of these folders stays far away of the maximum 2GB.

Please give me (in English) and/or him (in Dutch) a solution how he can eliminate his old account, without deleting his current account and current shared folders with [removed*].

Thanks.

Joos

 

* personal information removed per the Community's Guidelines

  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

    Joos wrote:

    Formerly he had an account login as [removed*] but this email address doesn’t exist anymore. Probably this account still exists, and is the cause of the overload of his basic account.


    First, I've removed all of the personal information from your post. It's very dangerous to post personal information on a public forum like that where anyone can see it and possibly use it to try to take advantage of you.

     

    If you mean that he has has two accounts; a newer one that is full and an older one that he can't access, his older account would not be the cause of the newer account being full. Unless he shared files between the two accounts (which he would see in the newer account), it's not possible for the old account to cause the newer one to be out of space.

     


    So he is unable to login to that old account: when he tries to login with “password forgotten”, a mail will be sent to his old email address that he cannot read and no longer exists. Can you help him to delete his old Dropbox account?

    No, Dropbox will not help him delete the account. The only way to prove that the account is his is to verify the email address, which he no longer has access to. If he is paying for this account Dropbox will help him remove any future charges, but they will not help him gain access to the account or delete it. If the account remains idle for more than one year it will automatically be deleted due to inactivity.

     


    Please give me (in English) and/or him (in Dutch) a solution how he can eliminate his old account

    The only way to delete the account would be for him to receive the password reset information at the email address for the account, then sign in and delete the account himself. Otherwise the account will be deleted after a year of inactivity.

    • Joos's avatar
      Joos
      Explorer | Level 3

      Thanks for your reply.

      If the old account is not the cause of his newer being full, his old account is no longer an issue.

      Remains the problem of his current account being full. The total amount of space of all the folders he can see when he chooses folders to synchronize stays far away from his maximum space.

      Is it possible that there exist invisible folders, or removed files still taking space on his account?

      • Mark's avatar
        Mark
        Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

        Joos wrote:

        Thanks for your reply.

        If the old account is not the cause of his newer being full, his old account is no longer an issue.

        Remains the problem of his current account being full. The total amount of space of all the folders he can see when he chooses folders to synchronize stays far away from his maximum space.

        Is it possible that there exist invisible folders, or removed files still taking space on his account?


        Deleted files dont use quota so that isnt the issue. 

         

        Two things could be: shared folders (www.dropbox.com/share) or he has activated Dropbox backup (www.dropbox.com/backups). 

  • Wilbert 's avatar
    Wilbert
    Explorer | Level 3
    I want to quit my account earlier installed with an emailadres Thatcher I connot reach because I dint have Thatcher device anymore. How to quit the storage and the account?
    • Rich's avatar
      Rich
      Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II

      Wilbert  wrote:
      I want to quit my account earlier installed with an emailadres Thatcher I connot reach because I dint have Thatcher device anymore. How to quit the storage and the account?

      If you're not able to sign in to cancel your account and the email address is no longer active, then you won't be able to sign in to the account to cancel it. If this is a paid account, you can contact Support to have them cancel any future billing.

       

      Visit the Support page while you're NOT signed in to a Dropbox account, including these forums, and you'll see an option for Billing issues. It's best to use an Incognito or Private browsing session to make sure you're not signed in.

       

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