Missing folders and documents on my computer and account after working to reduce the number of files

[TKSTX]

I was working to reduce the number of files as I have maxed out my subscription. Once I worked through the files in Dropbox all of the folders and documents on my desktop have vanished. I looked in my computer's trash can and in Dropbox's deleted folder but could not find them. Can anyone please help me solve this?

[Jay]

Hi @TKSTX, thanks for bringing this to our attention.

Could you clarify the steps you took when you 'worked through' the files on your account? 

Was this via the site or the Dropbox folder itself?

Any other info or screenshots would be helpful!

[TKSTX]

Jay:

It was a combination of both the Dropbox folder on my computer and logging into Dropbox. 

I have no screen shots to share that would be helpful.  

[Jay]

Could you give more detail on what you did? Were you deleting files from the Dropbox folder or the site? Were you moving the files to folders outside the Dropbox folder?

Did you uninstall, pause or do any changes to the desktop app?

Does the events page on the site show any changes?

[TKSTX]

No I did not.

[Jay]

Do you have the computer backup feature enabled on your machine?

[TKSTX]

Yes, Dropbox. What I want to understand is how moving files and documents out of Dropbox could cause all the files and documents on my desktop to go missing.

[Jay]

What you're describing wouldn't happen in normal situations. 

Could you let me know the exact steps you took in order to move files out of Dropbox? Were you moving files from the Dropbox folder to another non-Dropbox location? Did you move entire folders?

Did you disable the Dropbox Backup feature, or make any changes on the site?

[TKSTX]

I have Dropbox accessible through File Explorer and I can always log in at dropbox.com.  For this task, I started by logging in. I soon found it would be faster with File Explorer and started moving files and documents to our server. After moving the files to the server, I then moved them to the trash which I have not emptied on my computer or in Dropbox.

I don't recall turning off the Dropbox backup feature.

[TKSTX]

Additionally, I did not move or delete folders or documents from the desktop. I kept receiving a pop up message about deleting from the back up which I assumed was OneDrive.