Dropbox nightmare

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Ash Smith

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Oct 27, 2020, 8:26:09 AM10/27/20
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Hi All

I am having a nightmare with Dropbox. I activated a free trial a few weeks ago, which has since ended.

Last week I upgraded my OS to 10.15.7

After that, I found that 3 folders - Desktop, Downloads and Documents have all lost a number of important recent documents.

In trying to find these documents I see that the folders Desktop, Downloads and Documents are all aliases contained within my Dropbox folder

I am thoping that as I saved the documents in the normal way, the originals must reside in the original folders somewhere on my Mac

But I cant find the original folders. Alls marches just lead me to the Aliases in the Dropbox

Even right clicking the folders and selecting ‘Find Original’ just takes me back to the Alias

I bitterly regret getting involved with Dropbox, and just want my old Mac back

Can anybody offer any advice?

Many thanks

Ash

PS. I do Time machine back ups, but in an unrelated problem am unable to access these at the moment


Virginia Routh

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Oct 27, 2020, 8:31:28 AM10/27/20
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Hi Ash, I have struggled to understand Dropbox.  A few months ago, I wrote to them expressing my exasperation.  In reply they sent these instructions:

Dropbox

1. Sign in to dropbox.com.
2. Click Files to find the file you'd like to see previous versions of.
3. Select the checkbox that appears to the left when you hover over the file.
4. Click Version history.
5. Select one of the versions to preview it.
6. To restore to an older version, click the Restore button.


1. Having said that, please lookup on the article below on how to restore any Dropbox deleted files within a 30 day period:



Having said that, if you need to revert a file to a previous version then you will have to use the steps below:

1. Sign in to dropbox.com.
• If you’re on the desktop app, locate the desired file and skip to step 3
2. Click Files.
3. Click the checkbox next to the file you'd like to see previous versions of. 
• If you’re using the desktop app, right-click the file
4. Click Version history.
5. Click on a version to preview it.
6. Click Restore on the version you'd like to restore to. 
• The same file will get replaced by the older version, so its name will stay the same
Your restored file will be immediately available on dropbox.com and will be available on the desktop app the moment it completes syncing.


Also, if a file is deleted, then you will have to follow the steps below:

1. Sign in to dropbox.com.
2. Click Files in the left sidebar.
3. Click Deleted files in the left sidebar.
4. Click on the name of the deleted file or folder you want to recover.
• You can select multiple files or folders at once by clicking the checkbox icon
5. Click Restore. Restorations can take time if you’re restoring a large number of files.
Note: You can restore a shared file only if you had Can edit access to it. If you had Can view access to a shared file, you won’t be able to restore it. 


Lastly, when you use the automatic backup feature, that basically keeps and syncs your chosen folders to backup in your Dropbox account.


Lastly, since you mention as an issue, that you need to revert a previous file version, can you please follow the steps above, on how to revert to a previous file version, and if you have any issues, can you please send me a screenshot so as to be able to investigate further

Furthermore, let me please clarify that when you restore a file or folder, that is restored to the location it was initially deleted.

In addition, the above mentioned behavior is the same on many OS, when you choose to restore a file from your trash bin.

Having said that, let me please show you how to locate your Dropbox files:

1 Sign in to dropbox.com.
2 Click on the search bar. 
• If you're searching from the Files page, the search bar will extend to fill your whole screen and will display your search results without pressing Enter. 
3.   Type a term into the search bar.
4.   A short list of relevant content appears. To view all results, press Enter. 
5.   Click a file, folder or Paper doc to open it.


Hope this helps, and if you have any additional questions, please do not hesitate to get back to me as I would be more than happy to assist you.

Always at your disposal.

Warmest regards,
Ross




Virginia Routh, Apr 29, 2:09 AM PDT:
Sorry, Ross, but I am still struggling to understand how Dropbox works.  I found deleted files, clicked on one I wanted to restore, clicked restore.  BUT WHERE DO I FIND IT?  I’ve searched the Mac and the Scrivener programme but cannot locate the restored file.  Can you please explain to me how to find it?




Ross, Apr 28, 9:59 PM PDT:
Hi Virginia,

Thank you for getting back to me and all the added information.

Furthermore, let me please inform you that there are three separate Dropbox features you have mentioned in your reply.

Having said that, if you need to revert a file to a previous version then you will have to use the steps below:

1 Sign in to dropbox.com.
• If you’re on the desktop app, locate the desired file and skip to step 3
2 Click Files.
3 Click the checkbox next to the file you'd like to see previous versions of. 
• If you’re using the desktop app, right-click the file
4 Click Version history.
5 Click on a version to preview it.
6 Click Restore on the version you'd like to restore to. 
• The same file will get replaced by the older version, so its name will stay the same
Your restored file will be immediately available on dropbox.com and will be available on the desktop app the moment it completes syncing.


Also, if a file is deleted, then you will have to follow the steps below:

1 Sign in to dropbox.com.
2 Click Files in the left sidebar.
3 Click Deleted files in the left sidebar.
4 Click on the name of the deleted file or folder you want to recover.
• You can select multiple files or folders at once by clicking the checkbox icon
5 Click Restore. Restorations can take time if you’re restoring a large number of files.
Note: You can restore a shared file only if you had Can edit access to it. If you had Can view access to a shared file, you won’t be able to restore it. 


Lastly, when you use the automatic backup feature, that basically keeps and syncs your chosen folders to backup in your Dropbox account.


Lastly, since you mention as an issue, that you need to revert a previous file version, can you please follow the steps above, on how to revert to a previous file version, and if you have any issues, can you please send me a screenshot so as to be able to investigate further

If you have questions about how to take a screenshot, please see the following:

Mac:


On 27 Oct 2020, at 08:26, Ash Smith <ashs...@gmail.com> wrote:

Hi All
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Ashley Smith

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Oct 27, 2020, 10:02:48 AM10/27/20
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Thanks Virginia

I tried searching for a couple of my deleted files but Dropbox cant find them

What I actually want to do is find them on the desktop on my own hard drive. Or could it be that Dropbox has ’stolen’ my Desktop folder ? - can it do that? it certainly seems that way

Compounding my frustration is the total lack of actual human help on the dropbox website. 

You corresponded with Ross, who although  handy with the cut and paste, may actually link to a human

How did you escalate your particular query to get to email correspondence with them?

Thanks in advance

Ash



Derek Cross

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Oct 27, 2020, 10:09:42 AM10/27/20
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Linkedin Learning have an online video tutorial on using Dropbox (I don’t know how good it is, but Keith Gilbert is usually very good).
You can get 30-days free access:

Derek

Virginia Routh

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Oct 27, 2020, 10:51:55 AM10/27/20
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“How did you escalate your particular query”.  I don’t think I did anything special  just wrote to customer services.  

On 27 Oct 2020, at 10:02, Ashley Smith <ashs...@gmail.com> wrote:

Thanks Virginia

Jason Davies

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Oct 27, 2020, 2:09:20 PM10/27/20
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Though I can't work out what happened, try hitting shift command D while in the finder, and that should take you to your Desktop folder. If you then right-click on the folder icon at the top of the window that you now have open, you will see the path, i.e. where the folder actually is. See if that helps get started on finding the original folders… Come back if you get any clues.

Cheers
Jason

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Cheers,

Jason

Sam - MacAmbulance

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Oct 27, 2020, 3:52:43 PM10/27/20
to 'Jason Davies' via Sussex Mac User Group
Are you able to log into dropbox.com and search for the files there?
_

Regards
Sam Mullen

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