We are aware of the issue with the badge emails resending to everyone, we apologise for the inconvenience - learn more here.
Forum Discussion
A M.13
10 years agoHelpful | Level 6
Moving My Documents *OUT* of dropbox
The "My Documents" folder under my username on a Windows 7 machine appears to have disappeared and been subsumed by dropbox.
This is a big problem for me as I never store documents in "My Documents" but most applications such as my kindle or adobe reader store all their files in the my documents folder (and this cannot be changed). As the computer seems to think that dropbox is my documents (even though I was never warned this would be the case nor asked if I wanted it to be the case), I have a whole stack of files occupying my dropbox space that I do not want synced or stored on dropbox as I can easily obtain them if I need to.
How should I get back My Documents that has been stolen by Dropbox without my knowledge or permission?
Why did Dropbox do this without asking me?
...there's no other application I can think of that would automatically move the My Documents folder to dropbox.
As I've said, Dropbox has no functionality to do this.
However, you're quite welcome to open a support ticket and have Dropbox Support verify the fact of the matter.
Open your ticket here: https://www.dropbox.com/support
Track your ticket here: https://dropbox.zendesk.com
Replies take approximately 1 - 3 business days with Pro users getting priority (longer for Basic users).
I can find no instructions anywhere to move My Documents back to it's original location...
I'm afraid it's a bit beyond the scope of this forum, but maybe this might provide a starting point:
http://scottiestech.info/2014/11/11/repair-missing-user-folders-in-windows-7/
Sorry that I can't be of more help in this instance.
[This thread is now closed by moderators due to inactivity. If you're experiencing a similar behavior, feel free to start a new discussion in the Dropbox Community here.]
- A M.13Helpful | Level 6
Thank you for your reply.
Dropbox did move my 'My Documents' folder because there is no folder on my computer called My Documents and when I try to create it, it says it already exists which means that Dropbox created a symbolic link. Also, the location in the registry of My Documents points directly to the Dropbox folder.
Please explain how I can therefore 'just drag it back out'.
Thanks
- A M.13Helpful | Level 6
Dropbox has no such functionality.
I'm sorry but it must have as there's no other application I can think of that would automatically move the My Documents folder to dropbox. I would not be asking this question if I had created a symbolic link or moved My Documents to point to dropbox. Perhaps it was a bug in an older version as I have had dropbox on this laptop for some 2-3 years. My dropbox folder is on my d: drive whereas windows is running from my c: drive.
Thank you for the link. I know how to move it back however in order to do so, you have to be able to right click on the 'My documents' folder which as I mentioned before is nowhere to be found on my compuer! Even my user files folder (shell:UsersFilesFolder) has no My Documents but does have a dropbox folder (whose properties are not available for editing).
Doesn't the above provide proof that dropbox did move the 'My Documents' folder? The only other issue I could think of is if Windows automatically moved My Documents when I added a sub directory of Dropbox to the library but this was a folder within dropbox so how would Windows just move My documents to Dropbox?
I can find no instructions anywhere to move My Documents back to it's original location if you cannot view the properties of the folder.Thanks again
- Robert S.Super User alumni
...there's no other application I can think of that would automatically move the My Documents folder to dropbox.
As I've said, Dropbox has no functionality to do this.
However, you're quite welcome to open a support ticket and have Dropbox Support verify the fact of the matter.
Open your ticket here: https://www.dropbox.com/support
Track your ticket here: https://dropbox.zendesk.com
Replies take approximately 1 - 3 business days with Pro users getting priority (longer for Basic users).
I can find no instructions anywhere to move My Documents back to it's original location...
I'm afraid it's a bit beyond the scope of this forum, but maybe this might provide a starting point:
http://scottiestech.info/2014/11/11/repair-missing-user-folders-in-windows-7/
Sorry that I can't be of more help in this instance.
[This thread is now closed by moderators due to inactivity. If you're experiencing a similar behavior, feel free to start a new discussion in the Dropbox Community here.]
- Robert S.Super User alumni
Dropbox did not move your My Documents folder.
If you don't want it in there, just drag it back out.
- Robert S.Super User alumni
Dropbox did move my 'My Documents' folder...
Dropbox has no such functionality.
Dropbox created a symbolic link.
Dropbox has no such functionality.
Please explain how I can...
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-gb/windows/redirect-folder-new-location#1TC=windows-7
About Create, upload, and share
Find help to solve issues with creating, uploading, and sharing files and folders in Dropbox. Get support and advice 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!