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

HollisHoHo's avatar
HollisHoHo
Helpful | Level 6
7 years ago

Missing files after folder renaming.

Working on a brief that is due tomorrow.  Time is of the essence.  I changed the names of many files & folders containing court forms.  Very tedious but had to be done.  When I finished & now ready t...
Desktop
FAQ
Restore
  • Sanchez's avatar
    Sanchez
    7 years ago
    Hi again, HollisHoHo, 

    I’m sorry that you’re experiencing this again. I still believe that it is related to using a non-stable build of our application. In order to get to the bottom of this, I’m having a member of our support team reach out to you via email, so they can further troubleshoot with you. 

    Please have a look for their email, and get back to them when you can. 

    Thanks! 
Sanchez's avatar
Sanchez
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
Hey HollisHoHo, 

I’m really sorry to hear about this, and I think that we can come up with an explanation. 

When you make changes like these to your files/folders, these changes need to sync to your account and connected devices. For instance, if you rename files or folders on your computer, from within the local Dropbox folder, the changes will need to sync to your online account, and then to any other computers that are connected (that you use to access this same account). 

If you move files from one location in your Dropbox to another (perhaps you create a new folder to organize some files), these will show up as deletions, from the old location, and additions in the new location. 

If you move files from inside your Dropbox folder, to a location outside (for whatever reason), these will also show as deletions. Then if you add these files back to the Dropbox folder, they will show as additions. 

Is it possible that you've made some changes as described above, and that they just hadn’t synced yet? 

Keep in mind that if you need assistance in recovering content from your account, our support team can help with restorations, and full account rollbacks. 

Also, we don’t make any changes mandatory when it comes to Selective Sync and Smart Sync. You are if full control over these, and by default, all your content will sync to your computer!

Cheers
 
[Edit]
Another thing to check is that you’re using a stable version of our desktop app. If you’re making changes through our app on your computer, issues like the one you’re experiencing can be caused by non-final releases of our app, know as betas. A beta version is denoted by a xx.3.xx, instead of the xx.4.xx. If you are on a beta build, it means that you have opted in to Early Releases in your online account settings. I recommend that you switch this off, and then install our stable build. Current version is 43.4.50, and you can get the offline installer here. 
HollisHoHo's avatar
HollisHoHo
Helpful | Level 6
7 years ago

I didn't do anything to cause this massive deletion.  I have been using Dropbox for several years & I never had this problem before.  I did upgrade to the most current stable version as you recommended.  I only hope that it doesn't happen again.  Oh, apparently, this sudden & massive file deletion issue is not new.  For example, see: https://www.dropboxforum.com/t5/Installation-and-desktop-app/files-are-being-deleted-but-i-don-t-know-why/td-p/53179/page/2

  • Sanchez's avatar
    Sanchez
    Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
    7 years ago
    Hey again, HollisHoHo, 

    We can have our team look into these deletions, to figure out what happened. If you’d like for us to do that, please write in to our support team here. 

    Concerning our desktop app, you must switch off the Early Releases option in your account settings online, before installing our stable app. Otherwise, you’ll be updated to the latest beta again automatically. 

    If you submit  a support ticket, let me know, and I’ll be happy to look it up and get an agent on it right away. 

    Thanks! 
    • HollisHoHo's avatar
      HollisHoHo
      Helpful | Level 6
      7 years ago
      IT HAPPENED AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ENTIRE FOLDERS ARE DELETED!!!!!!!!!!! I GUARANTEE YOU, I DID NOT DELETE THEM. WHAT IS THE PROBLEM?? WHY IS THIS HAPPENING????
      • Wexlei's avatar
        Wexlei
        Explorer | Level 3
        7 years ago

        Hello HollisHoHo.

        Is your Dropbox app syncing while you rename those files? Is it open?

        Also, do you have enough free space to hold, for example, twice the size of these files?

        Usually, if you rename files with Dropbox opened, it will replace the file normally.

        The original file is deleted, and the renamed one is uploaded.

        If you don't have more free space, Dropbox won't be able to upload de renamed file, but will delete the old one.

        Make sure you have enough space and you Dropbox app is running and syncing.

        Hope this helps.

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