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Forum Discussion

TuiAllen's avatar
TuiAllen
Explorer | Level 3
6 years ago

When I delete a file, why do I receive a message that it will be "deleted from all devices"?

I hope this is in the right place. Not sure. It is probably the stupidest question but has puzzled me for ages. I sometimes have a file on dropbox I want to delete because it is now out of date. I ...
Delete
Desktop
Sync
  • Daphne's avatar
    Daphne
    6 years ago
    Hey there TuiAllen,
     
    The notification is just to clarify that removing the file from the Dropbox folder will in turn delete the file from your account, so it will also be removed from your other devices.
     
    The Dropbox desktop app doesn’t have the ability to read the files outside of the Dropbox folder so it wouldn’t be able to delete anything outside that folder either. The method you want to use doesn’t need any more steps than simply deleting the old file and then adding the new one to your Dropbox folder in its place.
     
    Hope this helps clarify the matter, let me know if you have any other questions - Thanks!
Daphne's avatar
Daphne
Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
Hey there TuiAllen,
 
The notification is just to clarify that removing the file from the Dropbox folder will in turn delete the file from your account, so it will also be removed from your other devices.
 
The Dropbox desktop app doesn’t have the ability to read the files outside of the Dropbox folder so it wouldn’t be able to delete anything outside that folder either. The method you want to use doesn’t need any more steps than simply deleting the old file and then adding the new one to your Dropbox folder in its place.
 
Hope this helps clarify the matter, let me know if you have any other questions - Thanks!
Intact 's avatar
Intact
New member | Level 2
5 years ago

Hi 

I have accidentally selected for this message not to come up anymore, anyone knows how can i make DropBox ask me this question everytime?

Thanks 

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

    Thanks for joining us here @Intact!

     

    Can you try the steps below and let me know if that does the trick?

    1. Click the Dropbox icon in your system tray/menu bar.
    2. Click the profile pic/initials icon in the top right of the window.
    3. Choose "Preferences..."
    4. Go to the "Account" tab.
    5. Hold the Alt+H (Windows) keys or the Space bar (Mac).
    6. Click the option "Reset file system warnings".

    Keep me posted!

    • usrcm's avatar
      usrcm
      Helpful | Level 6
      4 years ago

      What can we do to stop these notifications?

      • Jay's avatar
        Jay
        Icon for Dropbox Staff rankDropbox Staff
        4 years ago
        Hi usrcm, generally when you see one, there's an option to disable them with a checkbox to prevent seeing them again.

        Are you on a Mac or Windows device?

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