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Forum Discussion
deleted folder re appeared after a couple of years
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 wonde...
Thanks everyone for your patience while we worked on a way to clean up the inadvertently restored files and folders. We've built a fix that will automatically return this content to the way it should be: deleted and out of your Dropbox. This will only impact the inadvertently restored files and folders, and only if you haven’t updated them. We’ll begin rolling out the fix to affected users’ accounts later today. We’re giving you a heads up here so you’re aware of why there may be changes to your Dropbox. Here’s a bit more information about the fix.
Will this affect my other files?
The fix will only impact the inadvertently restored files and folders. If you have edited the files or folders—by moving them or updating the content inside—they will stay in your Dropbox. You can still manually delete these files and folders if you don’t want them.What if I don’t want these files or folders removed?
While the fix will automatically take effect later today, you can contact our support team (dropbox.com/support) within 30 days and we’ll restore the files and folders for you. You won’t be able to restore on your own using the events page.Do I need to do anything?
We will automatically roll out the fix, you don’t need to do a thing. If you have questions or concerns, please write our support team at http://bit.ly/cm-support so that we can investigate your specific case. Your ticket will be prioritized by the team.Thanks again for your patience, and we’re sorry for any inconvenience and confusion we’ve caused.
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
Ross_S
Dropbox Staff
Dropbox StaffThanks 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.
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.
- If dropbox wanted to know if their pro users were in doubt about staying past the /public folder nonsense, this is a kick in the direction of the door and through it.
I guess the next 'news' they keep 'quiet' is that our data has already been leaked and not just our user/pass combo.- Hoi Floris,
Ik ben op zoek naar Nederlandse Dropbox-gebruikers die onverwachts verwijderde bestanden weer terughebben. Zou ik contact met je kunnen opnemen?
Met vriendelijke groet,
Danny
Redactie Kassa
This happened to me as well -- several very old folders reappeared with their contents intact. I found this forum, and read through the postings and replies. I am extremely put off by this -- and the official response. Obviously, we've been LIED to. Our deleted files have been hanging out on their servers due to a metadata error, and they just now, seven years later figured that out? Files that should have been permanently deleted 30 - 60 days "after the initial deletion." I don't buy that. Shady.
This is a big deal. You've just lost a lot of trust. How do we know that this is the extent of it? How can we know Dropbox is safe? Or takes our privacy seriously? Huge fail, Dropbox. You can no longer be trusted.
Ross, thanks for this. One thing, its unclear how to identify all those files that have reappeared. There are obvious top level folders that have reappeared, but how do I find files that may have reappeared somewhere inside a valid top level folder (that is a folders that was correctly in my dropbox just before the bug) if I have 100Ks of valid files and folders in my dropbox?
Can you give some more guidance on how to identify them? Or does this bug only put these reappearing files and folders at the top level of my dropbox?
A similar thing happened to me: An old (maybe in the past shared?, created 2011-12-18 ) folder created reapeared recently with 4 pictures inside. Original file names but 0 Bytes.
Were in your case the files fully restored or only "empty" 0-Byte files?
@ Dropboxers: Is this part of the same issue or do I have to worry about the intgrity/validity of my account and files? I am not sure wether something is missing. I only noticed this very old folder reappearing and am slightly shocked. :-(
Ross,
Thanks for your answer, but I still can not delete these files. I tried it both from my desktop and online.
All the folders instantly re-appear.
Please advise.
Oh and yes. The "ghost" folders, for lack of a better term, are still there. I delete and they reappear. I guess the issue isn't actually resolved
- Ross_S
Thanks for letting us know! Ok, we're looking into this now. I'll update again as soon as possible.
I'm glad it's fixed, but.... this explanation sounds like these files were kept in quarantine for 5 years while you worked on this bug. That doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy about the "60 days" you listed below.
- So do I need to re-delete these or will you clean up as part of the resolution? just checking before I start cleaning up my files.
- This is happening to me too. Finding stuff deleted many, many years ago. It's confusing the hell out of me. Maybe as consolation, Dropbox will give us all a free 500 MB of space?
- So will Dropbox roll back this error eventually or is manual deletion the only solution?
**bleep** .. You keep files for an extra 60 day after deletion!
Did the NSA ask you to do that?
Same here. I am seeing some old folders and cannot delete them.
Moreover, if I use the API's list_folder endpoint with the include_deleted option I see a lot of files and folders that have been permanently delete years ago.
Why are they still there? I can't believe that so many files and folders have metadata inconsistencies.
