One month down in 2025: How are your resolutions coming along? Check out how to get back on track here.
Forum Discussion
man-u-l
8 years agoHelpful | Level 5
Dropbox Paper leave a shared document or folder
I am having a problem, I read an article about how to manage projects using paper, the article had a link to a sample Paper Document, I clicked on it and I was added to the Document list of people who can see and commend along with a couple hundred more that also clicked the link, now that I looked at the file I want to remove it from my Paper Docs, but I cannot find the option to do so, I can archive my own documents and eventually delete them, but I cannot remove or leave that document that was "shared" with me.
Any help will be greatly appreciated.
I am new to Dropbox Paper, I manage my notes elsewher but want to move all of them to Paper, I will pull the trigger once I can also have offline access to those notes on my Mac.
- Jane
Dropbox Staff
Glad to help figure out a solution to this.Just keep in mind that you can Archive or Restore a Paper document, if you have Owner or Editor access. On the other hand, because only the owner of the Paper document can remove users or Permanently delete the document, I ‘d suggest reaching out to them, so that they remove you from it, if you you don’t want to sync it to your account.I’d like to point out though that, as for the time being, Paper documents don’t take up any space on your account, so you can have as many as you like, without worrying about any space issues.If you need more details about it, just let me know here.Cheers,JaneA- Stephane C.1Explorer | Level 3
Actually, only a editor can archive or delete a document so if the Doc was shared without editing, there is no way to even move it to a folder. It's been annoying me since I started on the beta as I ha 2 document that are stuck. I moved from Paper for that reason alone.
- Jane
Dropbox Staff
Hey Stephane C.1, thanks for posting your thoughts on the Dropbox Forum & I hope you’re doing well today!Please keep in mind that in case the Owner has just granted you “Can View” permissions on this Paper doc, you will not be able to Delete or Move it to a different location. To my mind, a temporary workaround could be to “Unfollow” from the list of options on the […] icon on the top-right.I’d happily pass your interest & feedback up the ladder for future reference though, as it’s my understanding that you’d like to utilize this feature.I hope this is helpful to you & please keep me updated in this discussion in case you need further assistance or clarifications. Thanks again & I’m wishing you a great rest of the day ahead!
- cdstarsNew member | Level 2
Hi -- I don't find that this solution answers my question. I share Dropbox Paper notes with many other people at work. When people leave a training session, they are annoyed by the many shared documents -- but when they archive them, they are archived for me, too, and I still need them. How can I keep them as normal and have that person remove *themselves* from the shared document so they don't clutter the other person's Paper workspace?
- Jane
Dropbox Staff
Hey cdstars & LukeHowellDev, please accept my apologies for the slight delay in getting back in touch with you. Initially I’d like to thank you for sharing your thoughts on our Forum!Following, I’d like to follow-up with both & try to figure out a solution that would help you better organize your accounts according to your needs.When it comes to your question LukeHowellDev, you may keep in mind that you could just Unfollow the doc by un-ckecking the Follow option from the menu that appears in the ellipsis icon (i.e. I’m just re-iterating my suggestion above).Following, based on your description cdstars, it would be best for you to create a Template & remove all members once your training is over. (Note: I’ve created a walkthrough here that could be useful.) This way, they’ll be able to keep a copy & see your changes during you training, while your docs won’t clutter their workspace once your sessions are over.
Please let me know how you get on with these options & I’ll make sure to check back with you asap. Wishing you both a great weekend ahead & thanks again for posting us your questions on the Community!
- BlairImaniNew member | Level 2
A person sent me hate mail via Dropbox Paper and I am unable to remove it from my dashboard everytime I access Dropbox Paper. I need an actual solution to this.
- Luc C.1Helpful | Level 6
It seems that only the creator a the document can archive or delete it. Can I remove myself without contacting the owner?
- Tom H.
Super User
I just gave it a shot myself, and I also did not find a way to remove myself from a document.
Also, I did not find anything using the keyboard shortcuts. Seems to me like this is a huge spot for improvement. Though I could have missed it.
I would not expect a answer from the Dropboxer's if its a yet to be implemented feature. Dropbox doesnt comment on upcoming features, nor do they give time lines for such enhancements.
----
If this has helped you, please "kudo" this post.
If it has solved your issue please "Accecpt as Solution".- carrozoNew member | Level 2
Any chance you could use your super user status to put this back on their radar, Tom?
- Jane
Dropbox Staff
Hey Luc C.1 & Tom H., thanks for posting your thoughts & expressing your interest on this functionality here.I’ve made sure to pass your comments on for future consideration, as our team is actively working on adding more features on Paper & I’ve added your voice to the feedback gathered.Hope you have a wonderful weekend ahead.Take care! :slight_smile:- fonnesbeckHelpful | Level 5
This is not any sort of a solution, so I’m not sure why this has been marked as “solved”. I’ve got a couple of documents in my account that are other peoples’ documents which I cannot get rid of. I am never again going to view someone else’s Paper document because of this, which is a shame, because I am sure this is not the intended behavior. This is a bug, and should have been fixed long ago.
- carrozoNew member | Level 2
Agree with everyone else here who's outraged.
Get this - I can still view a bunch of documents from an ex-employer because they were accidentally shared to my dormant personal account because my gmail was stuck in the internal google directory from an initial consultancy period before I joined fulltime.
Perhaps your enterprise security team can get a little spooked now and dedicate some engineering resource to resolving this? Or will you wait til it blows up in your face and tanks your stock price?
- dvmierloHelpful | Level 6
Since this is an issue for a very very long time. It not only does Dropbox not listens to it's paying users, it also shows that Dropbox does not repsect the privacy of it's paying users. Dropbox forces me to contact the owner just to opt-out of an invitation I do not want to be involved anymore or being reminded about. Dropbox pushes me in unwanted personal situations I do not want.
- prelanovNew member | Level 2
So that means that file someone else shared with me keeps annoying me seems like i have no control over my dropbox security [link to external website removed by moderation] as mentioned no unfollow or leave option. I appreciate the solution for this..
- radsmthNew member | Level 2
I really can't believe this is still such an issue. I'm experiencing the same problem. A document was shared with me, I no longer need it, I want it off of my "Paper Home" list of files.
Is there really no way to remove myself from the file - or at the very least remove it from my Home list?
I agree with a number of other people on this thread in that this is a fairly large annoyance for someone who collaborates with multiple teams. The lack of ability to organize files in these types of situations is grounds for abandoning Paper all together.
- Jane
Dropbox Staff
Hello to everyone following this discussion detailing us your observations! Kindly note that we take your feedback seriously & for that reason I’ve moved your comment to the Paper Ideas section, so as to give it a small push, as other users may be interested in the same functionality & they could also upvote (👍) this request.I'm always here in case you need any additional assistance in any way; feel free to ping me back here & I'll do my best to reply back to you soon!- mhamrahNew member | Level 2
Just want to add to this thread- it is annoying I cannot remove shared docs NOT OWNED ME from my list in the 'Paper Home' page. I understand I could reach out to the owner of the doc, but this is annoying. I simply want the ability, by myself, to remove docs that are cluttering the 'All' section of the paper home view. I should be able to archive, remove, or hide these docs without any other user action.
- mistywindowHelpful | Level 6
I'm really annoyed by this. People have been complaining forever. It's so infuriating that I'm in the process of abandoning Dropbox Paper, and Dropbox will be losing my paid subscription.
Dropbox view: "To hell with the customers."
From a user with 18GB of free storage from referrals who's been here since near Day 1.- LucidiotNew member | Level 2
Here is one more trying-not-to-be-upset vote for fixing this. I was added to a number of DB Paper documents years ago as part of a consulting project. The owners and editors have since been "deleted" (see attached image). The lucky souls have been released from Paper Prison while I and the other poor "Viewer" were not so fortunate.
We were merely visiting - trying to help some people in a bind. But now the parole board, guards and warden have all left the facility. I know the key to this annoying Paper Box is just down the hall buried in a stack of Jira. Brave Jane comes by occasionally to patiently hear our pleas for parole. She even sometimes calls down the cell block to the product owner and dev team apparently preserving the Paper project prioritization pile as a pillow, perplexed as to Paper's plummeting praxis & profits. Pity.
- Judson D.New member | Level 2
Yeah, I was thinking about starting to use Paper, but couldn't clear out my workspace, came here to see this... No thanks, this is a minor thing to fix, and a huge annoyance to users. It's a red flag that Dropbox isn't serious about the product.
- kalinExplorer | Level 4
HAHAHAHA IT'S 2020 and dropbox still doesn't have a solution for this
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!