Cannot Delete Folder in Dropbox

[Island S.]

I have selected 'Delete' on selected folder, it disappears then reappears with the same exact 'date modified' date stamp within 5 seconds after I select 'Delete.' I have tried about 10x and so has my friend who shares the same Dropbox. Looked at security permission and I have all activated.

Thank you for any help.

[Nancy K.2]

I have tried contacting support, they know this is a problem, I hope they resolve it soon, I went as far as to tun off all computers and iPads that were syncing except one for a day and it still happened!

[Aiko S.]

I'm having the same issue. This is very bad and needs a fix ASAP. Thank you.

[Boris W.2]

The folder name includes a spaces at the end and Windows can't handle it.

Try to use an Android or Linux on a network share folder to rename "ShellExt " in "ShellExt" or delete them.

I do it with Android and ES File Explorer File Manager:

• on Windows:

1. Share folder below shellext folder

• on Android:

1. Install and/or open ES File Explorer app 
2. slide to the Network tab
3. tab on New and add your PC with the folder issue
4. tab on your pc and navigate to the folder
5. rename "shellext " to "shellext" or delete it.

Let me know if it work or not.

[rachel g.7]

I struggled with this problem all day - my son suggested checking which computers are linked to Dropbox. I went to my account online (under settings I think?) found a whole list of old computers there, unchecked the ones I'm not using, or X'd them off, then went and deleted that folder, and it was FINALLY gone!

Finding that list is convoluted, and sorry but I don't have time right now to retrace the route and write down the path for you, but it's probably easy to Google.

Hope this helps others with this problem

[Petra K.1]

i had an interesting thing that happened while desperately trying to permanently delete an old folder.  Suddenly there was a row of links on top of the page and one of them said 'delete' - I clicked it and the folder was gone.  I was unable to repeat the process with another folder. Something is really screwy...

[mobilerik]

I had the same problem and have finally fixed it in the following way. The folder I was trying to delete was within a shared folder of which I am the owner. Here are the steps:

1. Log in to the Dropbox web app on dropbox.com;

2. Click on the ’Sharing’ icon on the left (it’s currently a rainbow) to display a list of all shared folders;

3. Scroll to the shared folder that contains the folder you are trying to delete, and click once to select it;

3. Click on the share button on the right of the folder, to display a list of users that have access rights to that folder;

4. Change the access rights to those users that currently have ‘Can edit’ to ‘Can view’;

5. Now you can delete the folder you wanted to delete; this should now work without the folder being re-added;

6. Change the access rights again to those users that had ‘Can edit’ in step 4 and you are done.

This worked immediately for me. I guess if you are not the owner of the shared folder you’ll need to ask the owner to follow the above steps.

I hope this helps.

[poussard M. · Accepted solution]

This is what you do to fix this.  Go to your settings, security, security checkup, move through the questions to the devices listed.  Logout of all devices (computers, smartphones).  Then go to a browser, access your dropbox account, delete folders.  They are finally gone and do not pop back in a few seconds. If any computer is logged into dropbox you cannot delete a folder.

[Mark]

Just to add to Poussard's answer this is certainly one of the best ways of doing it because, not as said with the logging in and deleting (as you can), but, because one of the linked Dropbox devices has a corrupt database which is what is causing the folder to be restored. Unfortunately its almost impossible to work out which one it is so this is the best way of doing it,

[This thread is now closed. If you have a similar or new question, you can ask here]