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OGuyDave's avatar
OGuyDave
Explorer | Level 4
6 years ago

Cannot restore deleted files

Mac. I just used markup to modify a file that's on DB, and now I'd like to revert back to before the markup. I've gone to the "Version history" screen, but I can't figure out how to restore the previ...
Desktop
FAQ
Restore
  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    6 years ago

    Hi OGuyDave and groundhog I can tell you exactly what the issue is here. There is no file to recover it to because the file before your edit is over 120 days ago (assuming you are a paying user).

    You can ONLY recover and restore files that were previously edited to within 30 days for free users, or 120 for paid. So, if that files had been edited on 20th November and previously on 1st November you'd be able to do it. 

groundhog's avatar
groundhog
Icon for Super User alumni rankSuper User alumni
6 years ago

Hello,

I've never myself needed to use this feature, so out of curiosity I had a look at how it looks within my documents. As I hover the mouse over the previous versions, a Restore option appears, see screenshot. Does it happen for you? I am using PC, but that shouldn't be so different on a Mac.

  • OGuyDave's avatar
    OGuyDave
    Explorer | Level 4
    6 years ago

    Thanks for the quick response.

    Re: hovering, I get something different.

    (I tried to add a screenshot to this reply, but got "An Unexpected Error has occurred." twice.)

    So, what I get when I hover over the first previous version is "Dave Darrah moved the file from /EvergladesTramLeader.jpg to /Photos/EvergladesTramLeader.jpg,"

     

     

    • groundhog's avatar
      groundhog
      Icon for Super User alumni rankSuper User alumni
      6 years ago

      Okay, I tried to get a situation similar to your case. I moved a .jpg image from one folder to another and checked the version history. It did not give me a restore option upon hovering, only the statement that the image was moved by user.

      Then I renamed the file. Again, it apperared in the history, but without the option of restoring.

      Finally I opened the file with a photo editor, made a minor change to it and saved (same name). This changed apperared in the version history, this time WITH and option to restore previous version available upon hovering.

      So it appears that moving and renaming is not viewed as a change, but editing a photo or a document is. Hopefully someone with a better insight into how dropbox actually behaves can give you a better answer.

      • OGuyDave's avatar
        OGuyDave
        Explorer | Level 4
        6 years ago

        I can see that editing a photo is a change. But I should be able to revert to the photo as it was before I made the change -- I just made the change this morning. Surely DropBox knows about the previous version, right?

        Thanks for your contributions, groundhog. Hopefully, someone else can help.

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