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Jay's avatar
Jay
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
7 years ago

Dropbox deleted all my files!

No, we didn’t.   Now that the clickbait worked, let’s get into the meat of the article.   I know there’s a lot of frustration about how ‘Dropbox deleted all my files’. I accept it’s hard to l...
Delete
Restore
  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    7 years ago

    But, how can my file be deleted?

     

    A few ways actually…
     
    Firstly, if you install your Dropbox folder to an external drive, then there are always deletion risks, and I have listed them in a separate thread, which can be found here. However, I’ll repeat them in this thread later for the sake of convenience.
     
    Secondly, when I talk about deletions, I literally mean this definition: “Dropbox cannot see the file any more, so the file is deleted”.
     
    The question you should be asking is, “Why cannot Dropbox see the file? Where did it go?”
     
    Deletions to Dropbox mean any deletions done on the site, the mobile app, third party apps, and of course the desktop app.
     
    All of these versions connect to Dropbox in more-or-less same way, meaning that they detect changes, and then change the files on the site, which then syncs to all devices.
     
    I know you’ve heard this all before, but this is an incredibly important thing to understand.
     
    Syncing only acts if there is something to sync. 
     
    The app doesn’t do things on its own because it feels like it. If you’re staring at an empty spreadsheet, it’s not going to suddenly populate with your numbers and bar charts. A blank Word document doesn’t begin typing out your final year dissertation without your input.
     
    The opposite is also true, a document doesn’t slowly delete characters until you’ve lost all your writing, or formulas, without you touching the keyboard.
     
    This is just how Dropbox works, except for entire files and folders. If you’re staring at your Finder or Windows Explorer window blankly for an hour, even outside the Dropbox folder, (almost) nothing will change in front of your eyes, since you’re not using the computer.
     
    I mention the ‘almost’ part, since this is the crux of the matter. Narrowing down what made this ‘almost nothing’ to ‘definitely something’ is the goal of this post.
Jay's avatar
Jay
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
Deletions by the API
  • An app deleted the file - Now is when it gets tricky… If you grant a third-party app access to your Dropbox account, they might have access to the whole account, and not just a specific folder just for them. This can lead to a multitude of reasons that I’ll briefly go through now, but the possibilities here could be endless.
  • Using a Samsung device - There is a feature called DocumentSync, which is a folder of your cloud docs that you can add, edit or delete files. It also allows the files to take up space on your mobile. This is a direct link into your Dropbox account, and will delete them, instead of removing them from your Samsung. Be careful! This will be disabled on April 1st, but this is just in case anyone uses it before then.
  • Editing photos - Most apps edit the original copy only, or create the edited version and keep the original. Some instead delete the original and immediately replace it. This subtle ‘edit’ is a deletion/creation, so the original will be lost if you later look for it…
  • Automated services for monitoring - Home security apps, baby monitors, DVR camera systems, all can be linked to Dropbox to keep a copy of the day’s logins, talk and recordings. If nothing interesting is noted, the apps most likely have a setting to delete after 48 hours, or whatever the user requests. However, if there is a specific recording you need, store it elsewhere or save it to another Dropbox folder so it won’t be deleted.
  • Website/device rolling backups - Many apps and sites offer backing up your settings, logs and data to Dropbox; from your little blog about potatoes, to your brand spanking new iAndroid Ubersmartphone with retinal scans and blood verification. Since the backups are large, like the above monitoring reason, there will probably only be a few backups available on the site before the app deletes the 20th, 10, or even 5th backup. This all depends on the setting you create. Again, if there’s a nice backup, or you want a persistent copy, save it elsewhere.
  • App specific ‘reasons’ - This is a generic way to catch all problems or expected behavior with the third party app itself. Maybe their server caught fire and all your data there perished, syncing the empty folders to Dropbox. Perhaps they frequently conduct maintenance, and the timing is off, and the folder is deleted. The app itself might have a bug, or known issue, or just setup wrong, or even worse, is infected somehow. My recommendation? Find out exactly how the app is supposed to work before you link it to your Dropbox account. Get the correct settings first time. Don’t install the app if you think it is untrustworthy. Check the site of the developer and see how responsive they are to users in their community. Be cautious.
Jay's avatar
Jay
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
7 years ago
Special mention - If the Dropbox folder is on an external drive
  • Not mounted - When you boot your machine up and the external drive has yet be mounted to your machine, even if the cable is connected, it might not appear instantly on your computer as a drive. At this point, the Dropbox desktop application would detect a lack of folder and might start deleting away.
  • Disconnected while the machine is in use - If the USB/Firewire cable unplugged, even if the Dropbox desktop application is paused, the folder would have ‘vanished’, again leading to deletions.
  • Low on or loss of power - Is the drive powered by USB power, or external power? Is your PSU powerful enough to run it and all your graphics cards during an intense round of the latest MMOFPSJRPGSHMUP game of the week? Is there a UPS connected to your machine? Loss of power to the external drive equals lost folder, which leads to deletion.
  • Hibernation mode - Bought a planet-saving eco-friendly drive that powers down when in sleep mode to reduce pollution? Perhaps it switches off completely, and bang, your folder dies too.
  • Wrong drive location - Have you permanently assigned a drive letter to the external drive? Do you plug in other memory cards or USB sticks? If multiple devices are attached, but no permanent drive was assigned, your D: external could now be an E: thanks to your USB stick of cat pictures.
  • Renamed your drive - Similarly, on Macs, the external drive is instead given a name, change that name so your /Volumes/DropboxDrive/ is now /Volumes/CoolMemes/ and you destroy the connection to the folder.
  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    7 years ago
    As you can see from the above, there are a lot of various ways that your files are susceptible to deletion. I’m certain there must be some other exceptionally rare instances that I haven’t covered here, and if I do recall them, I’ll edit my posts accordingly.

    Hopefully this wasn’t too boring, but educational instead. We treat your data well, and are always hurt when you suggest we deleted it for no reason. Keep the above in mind to avoid losing any of your files, and your syncing days will continue peacefully.
  • JaMaL69's avatar
    JaMaL69
    Helpful | Level 5
    2 years ago

    Thank you for explaining all this, however it does NOT cover all possible cases of deletion. I have lost many files FROM INSIDE MY FOLDERS ON MY PC (hundreds of precious photos, videos, and music files!) and yet NONE of the things you describe happened or were done. I was using Backup and it was on Pause (at only 7% complete) and all I did was try to delete that Backup from my Taskbar interface with Dropbox. Bizarrely, this didn't delete the Backup but I then discovered that it DID delete many of my files not only ON DROPBOX but also ON MY COMPUTER! These files could not be found in my Recycling bin, nor in Dropbox Restore, nor could the deletions be found under the Dropbox Events. I'm praying you guys have some way of restoring these lost files to me! I currently have a Ticket in with support but I'm not optimistic that a happy resolution will be provided. So far they have no idea how this happened 😞 Anyway, I just wanted to say here that you have in fact NOT covered all the possible causes of deletion.  

  • Megan's avatar
    Megan
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    2 years ago

    Hi JaMaL69, I hope you're doing well!

     

    Can you share your ticket number reference of your communication with our Support, with me?

     

    Keep me posted!

  • JaMaL69's avatar
    JaMaL69
    Helpful | Level 5
    2 years ago

    Hi Megan, so I actually have had two different Tickets on this issue:

    First was #22800954 and now it's #22895114

    Any help/insight you might also offer would be hugely appreciated!

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    2 years ago

    Hey JaMaL69 - sorry to jump in here and thanks for the ticket numbers.

     

    I found them in our system and I can see that they're both closed now. Have you tried opening a new ticket about this issue or creating a follow up via your older tickets directly?

  • JaMaL69's avatar
    JaMaL69
    Helpful | Level 5
    2 years ago

    Hi Walter, thanks but I'm still in process of resolving this through email with a support person 🙂

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