Lost files when I deleted local data

[Eleven01]

I uploaded my work data to dropbox in the past, but now I deleted it when I was organizing local data, but I didn’t operate dropbox to delete it. What’s the reason why the files were deleted at the same time?
Thanks for the help.

[Hannah]

Hey @Eleven01, thanks for your post.

May I ask, are you using the Dropbox desktop app? 

And when you deleted these local files, did you delete them from within the Dropbox folder?

If that's the case, it's expected for the files to be deleted both locally and from your Dropbox account, as the desktop app is syncing these deletions.

When you add/edit/delete files from the Dropbox folder, the app is there to sync these changes to your account online.

If you'd like to restore your files from Dropbox, you can follow the steps here.

Let me know if you have any more questions or if I misunderstood the situation.

[Eleven01]

No, I did not actively delete the files in the dropbox, only delete the same files in the Mac book Finder.

[Jay]

Hi @Eleven01, just to clarify once more, when you say you deleted them from Finder, were the files in the Dropbox folder?

Was the Dropbox desktop application running at the same time?

[Eleven01]

Yes, I only deleted the file on Finder.
I also put it in a dropbox shared folder before.
I don't remember the Dropbox desktop application running at the same time.
So is there any function or setting that allows me to just only delete files in Finder ,then Dropbox will delete the same files simultaneously?

[Jay · Accepted solution]

If the Dropbox desktop application is running and syncing normally, then any files in the Dropbox folder, or in other folders monitored using the Dropbox Backup feature, would be deleted  from the site when they are deleted from Finder.

[Eleven01]

So I just need to adjust the settings so that files will not be deleted at the same time again in the future?

[Jay]

There aren't really any settings to adjust basically. If a file in located and deleted from the Dropbox folder, then they will also be deleted from the site when the desktop app syncs the changes.

Could you clarify exactly what you're trying to achieve? Do you want deleted files in your Dropbox folder to not be deleted from the site?

[Eleven01]

I just want that when I delete a file on Finder, the same file on dropbox is not deleted simultaneously.

[Hannah]

Hey @Eleven01, if you delete a file from your Dropbox folder in Finder or you delete a file from a desktop folder that you're backed up to Dropbox with our Backup feature, then that deletion will sync to your Dropbox account, as long as the Dropbox application is running on your computer.

If you wish to keep using the Dropbox app, to sync files to your Dropbox, then there's no way to stop the deletions from syncing.

Otherwise, you can unlink (sign out) the computer from your Dropbox, stop using the Dropbox app and only use Dropbox from the website.

That way, when you delete a file from the Dropbox folder in Finder, the deletion won't sync to your Dropbox account.

I hope this clarifies things!