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Forum Discussion
How do I delete files from Dropbox without deleting them from my computer and other devices?
I do not use Dropbox for backup storage; I use a different service for that. But friends and fellow students sometimes want to share files in Dropbox, so I set up a free account. Somehow, I don't k...
It deleted the files from my desktop- gave me no other choice than to delete everywhere...this is not a good answer
Daphne
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffHey suzanna!
Do you have the computer backup enabled to sync your Desktop files?
The delete everywhere notification is referring to deleting the file in your Dropbox account and connected devices.
If the computer backup is enabled and syncing your Desktop/Downloads/Documents files, then the deletion of the file is synced in the location that was chosen to sync.
You'll need to disable the computer backup feature first, to stop syncing those files to Dropbox.
Let me know if this helps!
Hello and thanks for working hard to answer this question which continues to perplex me. I assumed that using Dropbox to back up files on my computer would result in Dropbox making copies of files on my computer and putting them in the Dropbox cloud. I think that's how other backup systems work. Normally nothing happens to files on my computer unless I move them (not copy them) to the cloud. In fact in order to backup files, don't they have to be files on the hard drive of my computer in the first place? Your comments seem to imply that Dropbox doesn't just copy files to the Dropbox cloud but that it takes them and MOVES them to the Dropbox cloud so that they no longer exist independently on my computer. Because of that the Dropbox "backup" files are not really backups because they are now the only files. Therefore deleting them from Dropbox deletes them completely from their original location. As I understand it, now that I have made a "backup" to Dropbox (thereby moving my files) I cannot just delete those files from Dropbox without having them also deleted on my computer unless I now copy the Dropbox files I want to save back to my computer. This would be true even though the files were all originally files on my computer. Am I understanding you correctly and does this describe what happens with a Dropbox backup? Thanks so much for helping me to understand how to deal with this!
Its about time Dropbox sorted this problem out - there may be ways to avoid it but I could not understand a word of the answer and so many people are getting caught by, understandably, thinking that if you deleter a file it will not affect any other files on your computer and hard drives. Who knows, before doing this that you have to make sure something about the files being synced. Why isn't there a message pop up informing you before you click on that delete. They obviously don't care as this problem has been going on for a long time.
As said before - I have not touched Dropbox since I lost important videos of my grandchildren.
