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Troubleshooting accidental file deletion

Troubleshooting accidental file deletion

Sometimes in the rush of the moment, files can be accidentally deleted. That’s why Dropbox has made it quick and simple to recover those deleted files and folders, and you can get back to work.

10 minute read

Say hello to Tom

Tom’s company just started using a Dropbox team account, and he’s not too sure how to use it yet.

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Meet Tom

Tom works in the accounting department of a large retail company, preparing and examining financial records to make sure the company runs efficiently.

Fix it!

Recovering the file is easy. His admin can do one of two things: instruct Tom to recover the file on his own; or use the log in as user feature to log in to Tom’s account, and recover the file for him.


Either way, the file recovery steps are the same.

Undoing a deletion

Restorations can take time if there are a large number of files to restore, and you may need to contact Dropbox Support if you’re trying to resolve a mass deletion. If you’re on a Dropbox team account, fear not—you have 180 days to recover this file.

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Recovering select files or folders

You can recover any file or folder deleted in the last 30 days from dropbox.com (180 days if you have a Dropbox team account or a Dropbox Plus account with extended version history).

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Preventing team members from permanently deleting files

Normally, the person who uploads a file or the owner of a shared folder or Paper doc has the ability to permanently delete those items from Dropbox. However, Dropbox team admins can limit their team’s ability to permanently delete content.

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Getting back to business

Hey, we know accidents happen—that’s why we’ve made it simple and headache-free to recover your most important documents. After Tom recovered his deleted file, he got back to business.