Missing files and file contents after restoring my Dropbox to a new computer

[gokenchung]

I recently upgraded my iMac's to a new SSD because the old one was running with read/write errors frequently. After waiting for hours for the Time Machine to pour back my backed up data, I discovered that 4 month's of data (files and some contents in Excel files) gone missing! As if Dropbox has rolled back the contents of my account by 4 months. 

I tried going back to the Time Machine to see if I can access the missing files in Dropbox but to no avail. The Time Machine backup of Dropbox is just a shortcut! No Dropbox files were backed-up.

Has anybody experienced what I am encountering?

[Hannah]

Hi there, @gokenchung, and thanks for reaching out to us.

Before restoring your Dropbox through the Time Machine rollback, can you confirm that the updates you had made to your files were actually synced to your Dropbox account?

If they were in fact synced, you should be able to find the newest versions of your files in their version history.

Can you take a look and let me know what you find?

[gokenchung]

Hello Hannah, I've always thought file syncing between Dropbox cloud and my desktop is automatic because I never had to sync it manually. Please let me know where to find "version history" in Dropbox's interface. Thank you.

Ken

[Hannah]

Sometimes issues may come up with syncing, like connection issues etc., so that might be the case here.

You can find the steps to look through a file's version history and restore an older version here:

https://help.dropbox.com/delete-restore/recover-older-versions

[Mark]

Hi @gokenchung 

It is - as long as Dropbox is running.

Does www.dropbox.com/events show any syncing having occured?

[gokenchung]

I just clicked the link you sent and it showed syncing has occured up to the minute. But I'm still unable to find "version history" to restore to a previous version.

[Jay]

Hi @gokenchung, could you clarify what you mean by 'syncing has occurred up to the minute'? Does this mean that files have been syncing normally for the last 4 months?

Depending on your plan, you can view the version history of a plan from 30 days ago or higher.

[gokenchung]

Hi Hannah, the link you provided only brought me to a step-by-step and I'm stuck at step #2. I don't know what step #2 means.

[gokenchung]

Hi Jay,

Does the above screen capture proves Dropbox is syncing?

I don't know how to find out if the files were syncing normally in the past 4 months but after checking with various folders just now. Many files created in Feb 2024 to June 2024 are missing. 

Here's another anomaly - in one folder names 2023, there should be 12 files, named one for each month in 2023. All 12 files mysteriously moved to another folder I created called Archive (which should only have 2 files), now has 14 files!

The matter is now getting very serious. I don't know how many files I have created and saved in my desktop Dropbox between Feb to June 2024 (and some are very important). But I'm pretty now that they are all gone! Vanished!

[Walter]

Hey @gokenchung - can you confirm that the Dropbox desktop app was and is running on your computer at the moment as well?

If so, what is the app's exact status and version as shown in your menu bar?