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Forum Discussion
Can't delete a folder in dropbox
After I delete a folder(not an empty folder). It will appear again after few minutes and all the files in the folder are gone, like an empty folder.
No matter how many times I delete it, it will appear again. All the folders in my dropbox has this problem.
If a file or folder returns when you delete it, it's because it was unable to be deleted on one of your connected devices.
You delete a file on computer A. Dropbox is informed that it has been deleted and syncs that change to your account. Dropbox on your other devices is notified that the file has been deleted, so they also remove the file. On computer B, Dropbox is unable to remove that file for whatever reason (permission, locked, read-only, etc.). The result is that the file remains in place. Dropbox sees the file is still there, thinks it's been added and uploads it back to your account. All your other devices are notified of the "new" file and they sync it back down.
So the problem is that the file or folder in question on one of your devices is unable to be deleted. Figure out which (use Previous Versions to see which computer is adding it back) and fix what is holding it there, and you'll be able to delete it.
Hi All,
Try going to your account settings (top right corner of the web interface), select the Security tab and then disconnect all connected devices. I had about 20 devices listed and some of these were more than 2 years old.
This seems to work....
I now plan to uninstall Dropbox and purge folders and files on my current devices, before I eventually reconnect them to my account.
Cheers, Don
YES! Thank you Don. I had a a zillion (well, 30 at least) devices in there. Nuked them all, which took a long time, and the offending folder was finally gone when I logged back in to the Dropbox app on my current devices. It was not a permissions issue.
Don's idea didn't solve the problem, but it was satisfying to do some housekeeping and get rid of five-year-old connections.
Rich's idea was intriguing, but didn't work for one of the stubborn folders that refused to die, because it appeared to be an empty folder, and it turns out you can only look at previous versions of files, not folders.
Here's what seems to have solved the problem: I had to reshared (restore the sharing), then unshare. That automatically deleted the folder, and I was finally able to "permanently delete." So far the deletion has been sticking.
For one of my other stubborn folders that refused to die -- I discovered that Notepad++ was saving backups to that folder. This was causing frequent updating, and dropbox protected me from accidently deleting my work.
I had the same problem and realized I had selectively synced some files, which made the folder look empty when it really wasn't. I opened the dropbox folder through the website and moved/deleted the files, then I was able to delete the folder afterwards.
