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Dave H.33's avatar
Dave H.33
New member | Level 1
10 years ago

Trying to restore, but get "Too many files. Please use the desktop application."

I have an event of 50,000 files being deleted. I am trying to restore them, but get the error message "Too many files. Please use the desktop application." from the web app. Anyone know how to ...
  • Mark's avatar
    9 years ago

    Its a really bad error as you cant actually restore via the desktop client. Its something I have taken up with Dropbox previously. 

    You can, however, log a ticket and request a rollback via www.dropbox.com/support . Replies may take a few days, but, you can track at http://dropbox.zendesk.com

  • Alexis G.1's avatar
    9 years ago

    Came home from vacation, was getting messages about files being deleted. They sure were: for reasons I am still not sure of, Dropbox delete 650,000 files

    Dropbox don't delete files. Only an user or virus/malware can delete 650,000 files.

    and I can't restore them because 50k batches.

    If you are talking about the web interface limit, this is normal.

    Of all the FUS I have seen in my life, this takes the cake. Offering people protection THAT DOESN'T WORK.

    Why you say that? I deleted 12 files by mistake yesterday. I recover the files in 2 minutes.

    Yes, I saw the link about going and begging for them to restore my files. 

    If you have a malware or delete a huge amount of files due to error, you need to request an event rollback. This is an standard procedure. This is how I recover 10,000 files years ago after a problem with Dropbox in an external drive.

    I was able to restore a 10k deletion event...but it restored them to my disk? So, wait just a minute. Were the files being deleted from my dropbox account or my disk or both?

    If you delete files from your Dropbox folder, the app will sync this with the cloud, so the files will be deleted in Dropbox.com as well. This is the expected behavior.

    and if I am restoring them via the website why are they being restored to my disk when that is the LAST thing I want? I just want them to live in Dropbox.

    You restore in Dropbox.com and the new content is downloaded to your PC. Again, expected behavior.

    As to the nonsense that this isn't a backup, that's how people use it, millions of 'em, so that is exactly what it is.

    Nope. Dropbox it's a sync app, not a backup app. Can work as a backup in some scenarios (i.e: 1) if your hdd crash, you can install a new one, install the app and recover all your files. 2) If your laptop is stolen, you setup a new laptop, install the app and recover all your files and 3) if you delete a file or some files by mistake, you can login into www.dropbox.com and recover your files very quickly). But Dropbox is not a backup solution. 

    The sync is a nice to have

    The sync is one of the main purposes of Dropbox.

    the offsite storage is what I pay the 200 a year for.

    There is no plans at 200 USD. One year 1TB is 99USD. And yes, it's good to have all your important files available in your PC, Smartphones and Tablets thanks to cloud files.

    The sync is free. The storage/backup is what we actually pay hard earned cash for. It had *better* work.

    I don't know where Dropbox fails you. I have Dropbox installed in about 100 clients and all of them are really happy with the storage and service. Again: Dropbox is not a backup solution. If you want to keep your data safe, more today with the nasty virus and ransomware malware, you need to backup your Dropbox content from time to time to hdd, usb, dvd, bluray or any medium of your choice. It's my personal advice.