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dan t's avatar
dan t
New member | Level 2
9 months ago

Mass Deletion Alert (Mac OS Ventura 13.2.1) MacBook Pro

There really isn't  a good "category" to post this under so i'm using this one.   Over the last several months.  I received an email that there was a mass deletion.  While at home, I saw this ema...
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  • Rich's avatar
    Rich
    9 months ago
    dan t wrote:

    My procedure is to Quit all apps, unmount the dropbox SSD Hardrive (i keep dropbox on an external SSD HD), then i closed my laptop for the night. ... Dropbox what's going on??

    The problem is you're running Dropbox on an external drive and you're removing the drive while the Dropbox app is running. Dropbox sees the sudden loss of your files as a mass-deletion and starts to sync the deletion to your account.

     

    This is the main reason why it's strongly suggested that Dropbox not be stored on an external/removable drive. If the drive is removed while Dropbox is running or if Dropbox starts before the drive is connected, Dropbox can see it as a mass-deletion and will sync that deletion to your account and any other connected devices.

     

    If you insist on storing Dropbox on an external drive, it's extremely important that you close the Dropbox application BEFORE you unmount the drive.

dan t's avatar
dan t
New member | Level 2

Thank you Rich. 

 

dumb question....

 

I see the small dropbox icon along the top of my screen (towards the right) next to things like bluetooth, Time Machine, wifi, etc but i don't see how to officially close Dropbox?  Seams like it's just running always in background. I never open dropbox - just runs automatically.  It's not like i can close it like for example MS word or Photoshop document. 

 

How do i "close" dropbox at the end of the day?

 

Appreciate your help THANK YOU!

Rich's avatar
Rich
Icon for Super User II rankSuper User II
9 months ago
dan t wrote:

How do i "close" dropbox at the end of the day?

Click the Dropbox icon in your menu bar, click your user icon and then select Quit. I'm not sure about the macOS version, but on Windows you can also Control-click the same Dropbox icon to get the legacy menu, where you can select Exit Dropbox.

 

One more note. If you plan to continue using Dropbox on an external drive, make sure syncing is complete and showing Up to date before you exit the application. And finally, this is still far from fool proof and Dropbox is NOT meant to be run this way. If you value your data, make sure you're keeping your own back ups.

  • dan t's avatar
    dan t
    New member | Level 2
    9 months ago

    Rich you're awesome

     

    i can't thank you enough

     

    have a good day

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