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Forum Discussion
I don't see the option to unshare a folder, even though I'm the owner
I'm facing some problems when trying to stop sharing several folders I'm the owner. The share icon is present, but I am the only member of this folder. I understand that until I remove myself from the shared folder, it will remains shared; however, I can neither find the option to remove myself from the folder nor the option to "unshare folder". What should I do??
It seems that the issue of unsharing folders is very common on this forum, perhaps indicating that this feature isn't as easy to use as the Dropbox team thinks, or the documentation is not explicit as it should be.
- Mark
Super User II
You can unshare it without you leaving - unsharing does that.
Go to the folder, click on 'Share Folder', then click Settings and tap 'Unshare Folder' at the bottom of the popup.
Hi Mark. That's the problem, there is no "Unshare Folder" at the bottom of the popup. I still didn't understand quite well how shared folders work in Dropbox. That "Unshare Folder" option you mention, I see it in some folders, but some other times I don't even tho the folder is shared (with the 2 people icon), and that's why I'm saying that Dropbox should explain better how shared folders work.
What are my options to unshare a shared folder with no "unshare folder" option?
- Nancy
Dropbox Staff
Hi from me too, luispedroferreira. “Shared”, in this case, is mostly referring to the status of a folder vs “unshared”. So, even if you can only access a shared folder and no one else, it still remains shared until its status has been changed and it’s been unshared by the owner (in this scenario you).
Since you’re still not seeing the Unshare button though, can you send me a screenshot of the options you’re getting on your end, so that I can have a look?
Hi, I have exactly the same problem as you. Did you manage to find a solution to this? Many thanks.
- Megan
Hey arktis, I hope you're doing well!
Have you checked my message here? If you’re trying to unshare a shared folder and the unshare button isn’t present, then there is a chance that the folder is or contains a nested shared folder.
In these cases, it isn’t possible to unshare the shared folder, without first moving the nested shared folder(s) out of the folder tree.
Have you checked to make sure this isn't the case?
Let me know more, and we'll take it from there!
I am having exactly this same problem. The folders where the "unshare" button does not appear are both folders where 1) I am the owner; 2) there are no nested shared folders; and 3) the folders themselves are not nested within shared folders. I have tried dropbox support to no avail (they repeatedly asked me to do things I had already clearly told them I had already done, asked me to repeat information about 3 or 4 times, and then marked the ticket as "solved" despite never addressing my issue at all).
(Beyond this issue, allowing us to share folders within shared folders, but then never able to unshare either folder again in future, is horrible design and something that every user should be warned about BEFORE they share any folder within a shared folder. I recently had to redo my dropbox and lost literally dozens of hours of my time "unsharing" folders because every time I had to 1) click every single subfolder of a subfolder of a subfolder of a subfolder subfolder in a series of thousands of nested files to find the shared ones (there is no way for dropbox to tell you which subfolder is the problem preventing unsharing); 2) drag the child folder elsewhere, completely destroying my folder structure, and wait minutes or hours for it to sync completely; 3) note down by hand where the folder goes back to when I am done so that I don't lose track; 4) unshare the child folder in its new temporary location, waiting minutes or hours for this change to fully sync; 5) drag that child folder back to its original location, waiting minutes or hours for it to fully sync. And then even after doing all of that, dropbox would often duplicate the folder so that I now had two separate (complete? incomplete? identical? one with missing files? no way to tell!) identically named folders, one in the "new" (original) location, and one in the place I had temporarily dragged it to in order to unshare it--so then I had to manually delete this duplicate copy and hope I had not lost any files in the process. This is a complete and total disaster--a huge waste of my time, and now I have no idea if all my files made it back to where they belong, or got lost during the copy process. This process is equally bad whether using the desktop app, the mobile app, or the online web interface inside the browser [I tried them all]. I am now seriously thinking, after almost two decades as a dropbox user, of jumping ship to another platform.)
- Hannah
We really appreciate your feedback here, Claire W.3. Rest assured that your comments will be passed along to our team.
Can you also please give us the ticket number to your communication with our support team?
Thanks in advance.
Hannah, thanks for your help. The ticket number is #24665307. I have just been going around in circles for almost a month. They keep asking me to resend the same information; they keep threatening to close the ticket unless I send them yet another screen recording of the same information that I already sent (I have already sent screen recordings three times, even though they entirely duplicate all the information that I had already sent in writing, and tech support is still demanding more), and they keep ignoring what I have written (e.g., most recently multiple times demanding that I send a screen recording showing what happens when I try to unshare the parent folder, when I have already explained at least half a dozen times that the parent folder is NOT shared). I can't go on with a service like this that doesn't value my time (and doesn't fix issues). I cannot use a service that holds my service requests hostage by insisting that I spend endless time providing more and more information when I have already provided all the information needed. Not valuing my time is a complete deal-breaker for me.
This new policy of demanding screen recordings of everything is especially problematic--when did accepting any details in writing become obsolete? Screen recordings should only be requested by tech support when absolutely necessary, and only after Dropbox has actually looked into the issue as described. Sending screen recordings that provide identical information to carefully written details that have already been provided not only violates my privacy but wastes my time (not to mention introduces issues of accessibility for some users). In addition, every time I give in and send a screen recording, tech support then inevitably tells me I need to send yet another screen recording (which duplicates what I have already sent) or they will close my case.
I started using Dropbox when it first started almost two decades ago and had always been more or less happy with it (even if it sometimes lacked some features I was hoping for). In addition to my Pro account, I recently purchased a Dropbox business account for my full team. I now deeply regret this and am actively looking for alternatives for both me and my team. Since then, the sheer volume of technical issues and built-in limitations to the programming (in both Dropbox Pro and Dropbox Business) for simple tasks (like the sharing issues here), and the subsequent mismanagement by tech support make Dropbox in its current form unusable by me and my team. All I want is a system that will backup and sync my files reliably across devices, let me retrieve deleted or modified files for an extended period of time, and let me share and control permissions with others--in a way that is secure, reliable, and time efficient. I'm not looking for other bells and whistles and I'm willing to pay for this service. But Dropbox no longer seems to provide this...
I am having the same issue. The option to Unshare the Folder is not shown. I have verified that none of the sub-folders are separately Shared.
Dropbox knows that they have a bug, but they are not willing to admit.
If you want to go over the problem, do the following steps:
copy all the file from the damaged directory to an external drive (outside Dropbox)
open a new folder in Dropbox
copy all the files from the external drive to the new folder in Dropbox
delete the problematic folder
Just want to say I am having the same problem too. Very annoying not to easily and transparently control folder sharing!!!
