deleted folder re appeared after a couple of years

[alex b.35]

Something very weird just happened with my dropbox account. Out of nowhere, a folder which was deletec about 2 years ago re appeared on my dropbox. It has the files as they were, which makes me wonder why the hell dropbox is still keeping these files after a few years that they have been deleted?

First I thought it was a hack, but then I checked all my devices and what was accessing my account and indeed, everything was as it was before.

It makes me think this is a serious bug and on another note, why the hell is dropbox keeping data that was deleted 2 years ago?

I'll surprised, scared and angry at the same time. I'm not even sure where to begin! I'm now wondering about several of my clients that use dropbox in their business if the same happens.

[billk86]

Thank you.

[winni2]

same issue for me. as of this morning several previously deleted folders have re-appeared in my DB. No connecting to older computers involved. hopefully this gets resolved soon.

[jmwatson84]

I tried to get files recovered past 30 days a while ago, where was this bug when I needed those files then?

[tjs]

I'm having this same problem – several different folders of old files from 2009–2011, deleted years ago but suddenly reappearing overnight. And I definitely haven't connected to an old computer, either.

My Dropbox has also been stuck on "Syncing (16 files remaining)" since about 10am UK time, and I got an email around the same time to say that a file request was closed … for a folder I deleted last year. Something is definitely up here, and it's not good.

[max2]

same issue here - files and folders that I deleted in 2011 reappear (several GBs). 

[JamesHancox]

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@Rich wrote:

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@billk86 wrote:

Several folders that were deleted years ago appeared in my main Dropbox folder yesterday.  Should I be worried about this?

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Merging your post into the main discussion for this issue.

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Will we see any resopnse from Dropbox on this? I saw some replies asking about whether this was due to files being re-syncd from local machines... But I see no replies addressing that this can not possibly be the case for the majority of the people comenting here...

I deleted these files over 6 years ago. The devices I had those files on are long gone, and trashed. The Terms of Service state files are unrecoverable after 30days be Dropbox, suggesting when we delete from the service they are gone forever... Yet these files have retuend, sent to us by the Dropbox Servers... Why?? This is a massive breach of trust for Dropbox, and I think we deserve some communication about this before we find out from CNN or a tech blog website posting it all over Facebook... Or do we need to report this to the media ourselves to get an answer?

[janchristensen]

Dear Rich, it's been two days. My Dropbox seems to have been restored, but will there be some update and explanation about what is or has been going on? Best regards, Jan Christensen

[drm]

Two days ago, a folder mysteriously appeared in my dropbox folder. Some time later a subfolder was added and a word file was added. The folder and the files therein were mine but had been deleted years ago.

The events page has no record of the folders or the file being added to my dropbox folder.

How do I figure out what computer they came from and how?

Jim

[Ross_S]

Thanks for your reports, and we’re sorry for the confusion we’ve caused. Here’s more information about why some of you are seeing previously deleted files or folders reappear in your Dropbox.

What happened?
A bug was preventing some files and folders from being fully deleted off of our servers, even after users had deleted them from their Dropbox accounts. While fixing the bug, we inadvertently restored the impacted files and folders to those users’ accounts. This was our mistake; it wasn’t due to a third party and you weren’t hacked.

Why are these files and folders so old?
Typically, we permanently remove files and folders from our servers within 60 days of a user deleting them. However, the deleted files and folders impacted by this bug had metadata inconsistencies. So we quarantined and excluded them from the permanent deletion process until the metadata could be fixed. During this time no one had access to your files or folders and none of your other files were affected.

What should you do?
We’ve fixed the metadata bug so you can delete these files and folders now, and they won’t reappear. We’re continuing to explore alternative solutions and will keep you updated here on the forum. In the meantime, we’ve made sure these files and folders won’t have a negative impact on your quota.

If you still have questions, you can reach our support team at http://bit.ly/cm-support

P.S: This has been marked as a 'solution' to be pinned to the top of the page and visible to everyone. 

[AK47]

Let's say "it's fine".

However, it is extremely irresponsible to keep everyone in the dark, being silient or providing generic answers that lead to nowhere, instead of admitting there is an issue and you were working on it. There is no justifiable reason why anyone could have said anything yesterday after many posts, tweets, bug reports, and more. 

Your attitude has been dismissive, rude, inconsiderate... I am a "free" member, I cannot imagine how paid subscribers feel like. 

Good luck to you all keeping things straight and heads above water. This was a HUGE slap in the face to us loyal customers who put countless of important data in your servers, some of us savvier than others. The LEAST you could have done is say ASAP that it wasn't a hack, for people's peace of mind. 

I am past furious. I am just now dissapointed.