We are aware of the issue with the badge emails resending to everyone, we apologise for the inconvenience - learn more here.

Forum Discussion

Pär T.'s avatar
Pär T.
Helpful | Level 6
7 years ago

Impossible to delete The old Dropbox main folder Windows 10

The support people that answer the chat have no clue about anything, thy just try to stall by asing some standrad quetsions and then wokring very hard to missunderstand whatever you say. The "real" s...
Delete
Desktop
Windows
Jane's avatar
Jane
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
7 years ago
Hey Pär T.., sorry to hear that you’re feeling this way, I’ll try to address your inquiries in the best way I can. 
 
It's my understanding that you'd like to delete your old Dropbox folder & re-install our application anew, is that right?
 
For starters, you may keep in mind that I’ve moved your post into a new conversation & merged the second thread you created, in order to gain some insight into what seems to be troubling you. 
 
Because I’d like to follow-up with you as closely as possible, can you let me know exactly what you’d like to attain, so as to advise accordingly? Are you trying to point a new installation to an existing Dropbox directory on your desktop or are you facing an issue uninstalling the Dropbox desktop application? 
 
(If the latter is happening, then this set of steps may be helpful.)
 
Spoiler

If you’re having trouble uninstalling the Dropbox app, follow these steps:

Reinstalling the latest version of the Dropbox can fix the uninstall process.
  1. Download the Dropbox app. The installer downloads automatically. 
  2. Double-click the downloaded file.
  3. After the install completes, click the Dropbox icon in the system tray.
  4. Click the gear icon.
  5. Click Quit Dropbox. 
  6. Try to uninstall Dropbox again.
If the app still won’t uninstall, follow these steps to manually uninstall:
  1. Open Windows File Explorer. 
  2. Copy this line and paste it into the address bar. Press Enter.
 
%PROGRAMFILES(x86)%
 
  1. In “Program Files,” open the “Dropbox” folder, then open the “Client” folder.
4.   In “Client,” you should see a file named DropboxUninstaller.exe. Double-click this file to run the uninstaller. 
If the uninstaller fails or doesn’t launch, try running the uninstaller as an administrator:
  1. Right-click DropboxUninstaller.exe. 
  2. Select Run as Administrator. 
  3. Enter the computer admin username and password when prompted.
  4. Follow the the steps in the uninstaller.  
Other than that, I’ve made sure to locate your latest open support requests on our system & I can see that you’ve already followed some troubleshooting steps there with my colleagues. I’ve included your comments on this email chain, though please note that it would be best for you to continue working on that from this channel, as my colleagues can access your account directly. 
 
Alternatively, please do let me know of the steps you’ve already followed & the results you got while investigating, in order to get a better understanding of what’s happening. 
 
I hope that this is- even slightly- helpful to you & I’m looking forward to your next update on how you’d like us to proceed on this discussion. 
  • Pär T.'s avatar
    Pär T.
    Helpful | Level 6
    7 years ago

    To both of you, pls answer the question i have, not anoother questoin i don't have. I shold not be possible to twist what i wrote to "im trying to unistall Dropbox", but you did. It should not be possible to twist what i wrote to delete a file or folder within the main dropbx foder, but you did.

    I repeat: 
    I hade some sync-problems so i reinstalled Dropbox in a new locatoin. Then I wanted to move the new folder to where the old one was (E:\Dropbox)

    TIPS: Repeat my steps so you can reproduce the problem. Should only take a few minutes, and then you will stop missunderstand my message.

    So I first uninstalled Dropbox, including register enterys, including Syswow64 folders. Then i start Windows 10 in failsafe mode. Then I delete the Dropbox folder. HOWEVER as soon as i reinstall Dropbox and try to move the DropBox folder to the old locatoin (E:\Dropbox) it recreates the Dropbox (before i ask to move) and then when i give command to move it say "a dropbox folder already exist there". Do you now understand the insanity of the problem?

    I see two ways (pls correct me if im wrong). Either make dropbox accept to use an old folder, or if not possible tell me step by by step how to erase the old dropbox main folder without dropbox recreating it.

    And one more time. The problem is exactly what i have described. If You have a problem accepting that, take deep breath, walk around the block or what ever, but don't try one more time to twist my words. In my very first mail i was superclear but agian and again and again you try to solve a problem i dont have. Pls stop that and focus on the problem at hand.

    In the old dropbox this was also a problem, but not so big as it is now. Then you coluld just rename the old folder to "Old_Dropbox" and install the new. So beeing a programmer myself i suspect somone have worked really hard to make a dropbox udeleteble, without understanding what a hell that can create for a end user.

    Regars, Pär

    (I attach a screen of some of the folders and files that are autocreated)




    • Pär T.'s avatar
      Pär T.
      Helpful | Level 6
      7 years ago

      Problem solved. It was "Widows Search", the indexing sevice that was located in the DropBox Folder and also some documents that was always open (Action Outline documents).

      SUGGESTION:

      When DropBox cant move the DropBox folder because some files are locked, inform the user of what files. Dropbox do have that information and to not tell the user is ...not a good solution? Without that informatin, how on earth is a normal user expected to deal with that problem?

      I solved it by doing a normal copy, and then windows told me what files was the problem. Dropbox should do that, because maybe the user dont have space enogh to make a copy and maybe the user dont know about that workaround.

      • Jane's avatar
        Jane
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        7 years ago
        Thanks for following-up with me on this discussion Pär T. & for all your efforts & the time you’ve devoted on the matter, I’m happy to hear that you managed to figure out what was wrong & point your installation to your existing Dropbox folder structure!
         
        Let me send you some tips that could be helpful in case you’d like to contact us again & will (in all likelihood) improve your overall interaction with support. 
         
        When it comes to your initial request:
         
        pls answer the question i have, not anoother questoin i don't have 
        It would be worth noting your third comment was very helpful in determining the specifics of the issue you were facing, as I based my initial answer on your second comment
         
         I boot in failsafe mode, and rename or delete the folder. I also uninstall Dopbox. Still whenever i log in normally to windows, the folder is recreated without Dopbox installed!

        Then, ofcourse i cant install the new dropbox there. It will only say "a dropbox folder already exists" and refuse
        According to this description & the title of the thread, it was my initial understanding that you were experiencing an issue un-installing our application & I based my reply on that. Please keep in mind that if you had already submitted the same information to our colleagues via our Official support channel, this is not available to us here for security reasons. 
         
        For that reason, we request sending us as much detail as possible, in order to try & walk in your shoes for a while & see if we get the same results as you do by re-creating the behavior you’re describing on our end. As a matter of fact Pär, your third comment was very informative (& thanks a lot for that) & I’d like to invite you to use a similar approach in the future.  
         
        Last but not least, I could pass your interest on the diagnostic message on to our team specialists for future reference, as I understand that it would be helpful to you! 
         
        I’m always here in case you’d need further assistance in any way, just keep me updated in your next reply & I’ll do my best to check back with you. Thanks again for getting in touch with us on our Forum! 

About Delete, edit, and organize

Solve issues with deleting, editing, and organizing files and folders in your Dropbox account with support from the Dropbox Community.

Need more support

If you need more help you can view your support options (expected response time for an email or ticket is 24 hours), or contact us on X or Facebook.

For more info on available support options for your Dropbox plan, see this article.

If you found the answer to your question in this Community thread, please 'like' the post to say thanks and to let us know it was useful!