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currentcapital's avatar
currentcapital
Helpful | Level 6
8 years ago

Randomly deleted files and folders

Anyone else experiencing files and folders being deleted from Dropbox without human intervention?   I know that I'm going to get the stock Dropbox answer here that it can't happen, but I can expl...
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  • Jane's avatar
    Jane
    7 years ago
     
    Hey Daz, 
     
    Welcome to the Dropbox Community, let me send over some tips below regarding your inquiry and we’ll take it from there! 
     
     SKBJ ‘s reply could point you towards the right direction, though you may need to dig deeper, depending on the behavior you’ve noticed. 
     
    Firstly, as Dropbox syncs any files added to it, a virus or malicious software would get updated to all computers linked to the account accordingly. If the virus or malicious software is in a shared folder, shared folder members and computers may also be affected. That being said, I’d strongly recommend removing it as soon as possible, as it’ll definitely create more issues in the long run. 
     
    Secondly, it recently came to attention that connecting or pointing external locations (i.e. Symlinking them) to your Dropbox folder might cause unexpected behavior, so it may appear to you as if files are randomly deleted. That being said, I’d advise you to have a look intro this as well, just as a possible scenario. 
     
    Regardless of the cause, if you need further clarifications or you’d like your account reverted back to a particular point in time, my advice would be to reach out directly to our team, who’ll guide you through the necessary steps and actions you’d need to take, so as to revert back to normal operations. 
     
    If you decide to go per my advice above, you may keep in mind that I’m always here to pursue a resolution, so please let me know a ticket ID I could reference in your next reply. 
     
    I’m looking forward to hearing back from you on this discussion! 
Risky A.'s avatar
Risky A.
New member | Level 1
9 years ago

I see there are similar posts about this, and in some of them it's being put down to user error or the files being deleted by someone who shares a folder.

I just wanted to say that I've been using Dropbox for years, know how it works, and important work files that I would most CERTAINLY never have deleted recently disappeared from my Dropbox folder.

Also, I don't share my folders with anyone, so it's not that someone else is deleting them either.

Thankfully I was able to visit Dropbox via the website and undelete them. If not, I would have been in really serious trouble.

I just wanted to post this to show other people who are losing data that they are not alone.

I have to say that my confidence in Dropbox has taken a BIG knock.  I've now started backing up my Dropbox folder to DVD on a regular basis - which, in a way, defeats the whole point of Dropbox for me.

  • Scott5's avatar
    Scott5
    New member | Level 2
    8 years ago

    I am having the same issue, have had dropbox for years and in the last 45 days my files start being randomly deleted. I don't have other users accessing the folders, so that is not the issue.

     

    I keep opening tickets, but just keep getting sent links to the info I have already tried. Dropbox shows no deletion event, but the files are definitely missing. Anyone have an idea on how I can get my files back?

      • JHVphysics's avatar
        JHVphysics
        New member | Level 2
        8 years ago

        Hi.

        I had similar occurrence and I have loads of questions... I am accessing Drobbox thru few Linux, android and one windows 10 machine. I had thousands files deleted from random locations including some client files which is really serious. It is unfortunate if I lose my own work files as it will set us back to the latest backup... which is few days old... but if I delete files belonging to clients that is a catastrophe as I could loose the customer. I only caught this because the number of deletions was so large 5000+ files maybe about 50GB and I got notification from DB. I have experienced lost files in DB before. At the time I taught maybe they were accidentally removed by someone or my kid got hold of the the keyboard and played with the delete key... we did not see them missing within the 30 day grace period so we lost some pics and documents... now I am not sure that was the case.

         

        This time the files were deleted at the same moment from various different locations. they were also different types pics, PDFs, office files, text, code, binary simulation data, cad drawings etc. So most likely this was done by software (operating system, file browser (I use nautilus and file explorer) or malvare). Human could not have done it manually in the time given.

         

        What is curious that I was not able to recover some of the data from deleted files which are supposed to remain there for 30 days but I did find that data from the backup few days ago... so not all missing data remained in the recovery folder. My concern is... did I recover all the lost data or is some of it still missing or is some of the data clients shared with me missing. Also according to DB deleted files page the oldest deletion happened week ago although I use DB folder for work about every day so there should be deletions for almost every day for the last 30 days. Do I see the deletion in recovery page if shared folder is deleted by someone else than me?

         

        Can something delete the file permanently without logging in to DB web site with my credentials and click “delete permanently” button

         

        Is there known reason for this type of behavior? Some bug, malvare, virus, sync problem or OS update????

         

        Yours Hannes

         

  • Mark's avatar
    Mark
    Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
    9 years ago

    Dropbox cannot delete on its own. SOMETHING has to be doing it - see https://help.dropbox.com/delete-restore/missing-reappearing-corrupted-files 

     

    Risky A. wrote:

    which, in a way, defeats the whole point of Dropbox for me.

    Oh no, it really doesnt. Dropbox is NOT a backup tool and should never EVER be regarded as one. It is a syncing tool. 

    You should ALWAYS have multiple backups in place - regardless if you have Dropbox or not. 

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