You might see that the Dropbox Community team have been busy working on some major updates to the Community itself! So, here is some info on what’s changed, what’s staying the same and what you can expect from the Dropbox Community overall.

Forum Discussion

Kevin__USER's avatar
Kevin__USER
Explorer | Level 4
5 years ago

1 item couldn’t be permanently deleted

Hello,
 
I am trying to permanently delete all the folders/files in my account so I can free up space to upload new content.  Unfortunately, whenever I have tried I receive the same message from DropBox:
 
1 item couldn’t be permanently deleted
Not permanently deleted
What can you do
Ask the owner to help permanently delete this
 
The problem is that I am the owner of the account and the one who uploaded the material so I'm not sure who it is I have to ask.  I am not sure what I need to do next.  Can anyone help me, please?
 
thanks in advance,
Kevin
Delete
Error Messages
Restore
Share
  • Jay's avatar
    Jay
    5 years ago

    Hi Kevin__USER, if you're getting this message, then it means that folder is a shared folder, and you're not the owner of that shared folder.

     

    Only the owner can permanently delete the data in shared folders, so you'll need to ask them to do so on your behalf.

     

    You can find out who the owner is by restoring the shared folder from here and clicking the 'Share' button on the folder.

     

    Hope this helps to clarify matters!

  • Walter's avatar
    Walter
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    5 years ago

    Hi Kevin__USER; welcome to our Community!

     

    I'm not sure what could be causing this; could you try another browser and let me know if you get the same results? 

     

    In case you do, I'd appreciate a screenshot so I can have a better look into this.

     

    Thanks!

    • Kevin__USER's avatar
      Kevin__USER
      Explorer | Level 4
      5 years ago

      Hi Walter,

       

      Thanks for helping.  I've been trying via Firefox but have also tried via Opera where I get the same message.  Here's a screengrab of the message I get.

       

      thanks again - Kevin

       

       

      • Jay's avatar
        Jay
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        5 years ago

        Hi Kevin__USER, if you're getting this message, then it means that folder is a shared folder, and you're not the owner of that shared folder.

         

        Only the owner can permanently delete the data in shared folders, so you'll need to ask them to do so on your behalf.

         

        You can find out who the owner is by restoring the shared folder from here and clicking the 'Share' button on the folder.

         

        Hope this helps to clarify matters!

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!