Dropbox Deletes Excel File Immediately After Saving

[PeterRust99]

I've had Paid 2TB Dropbox for several years and have never had this issue before.  The Excel file is 11.4 MB.  After saving the file then deletes after after a few seconds after syncing.  Issue has been occurring for about 3 days now.  I went to Dropbox Events and restored the file but after a few seconds it is deleted again.  I changed the name of the file and put in a new folder but again it deletes after a few seconds.  I renamed the file a few times but again it always gets deleted.  I turned off Dropbox and there was no deletion so I'm assuming Dropbox is the problem, not Windows.  Dropbox support doesn't know thus far.  Some contributing factors may include that this file is saved programmatically and the file is somewhat large....not sure since I have many other large excel files with no issues and other files that are saved programmatically also.      

[Rich · Accepted solution]

---

@PeterRust99 wrote:

After saving the file then deletes after after a few seconds after syncing.

---

After you restore the file, look at its version history and it will show you where the file is being deleted.

If you have multiple devices, one possibility is that after saving, the file is synced to your account and then down to your other device(s). If another device is unable to write the file, Dropbox could see it as though that device is deleting the file, and that deletion then gets synced back to the device where you originally saved it. Looking at the version history, if it says that the deletion is happening on another device, this is usually the reason. Look at that device to see what is causing the deletion.

[PeterRust99]

Hi Rich,
Thanks for helping. I was not able to find version history for the deletes, only for edits. I shut down all the devices (there are many) except for my home pc. This stopped the automatic deleting. Next step I will have to go through each device to find the culprit. Maybe one of the devices has maxed out it's hard drive space?

[PeterRust99]

Hi Rich, I was able to isolate the device that was causing the problem.  A cybersecurity app called RAV was installed the same day the problem occurred (not sure how it got installed).  I uninstalled that app which was deleting this one particular excel file for some reason.  Now it's ok.  Thanks again.