11

A friend shared a bunch of photos with me via my DropBox account and now I want to delete them. The files are showing as "shared" in my account.

I'm concerned that if I delete the files from my account they'll also be deleted from his. As they count towards my usage it appears that they are mine to delete, but I didn't create them in the first place.

Is it safe for me to delete the files?

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
10

It appears that the files were not mine to delete after all.

Right clicking on the folder brings up the context menu - the first option of which is Shared Folder Options. Clicking on that option shows the following dialog:

Dropbox folder sharing options

In this case I'm the only member on the list so it's safe to delete the folder. In the other folder there were more names on the list - the person who shared the folder in the first place and others. In this case it would NOT be safe to delete the folder as it would delete it for everyone else as well.

The correct action here is to click on the "Leave folder" option. You get the option to keep the files on your computer and then on OK your usage is reduced by the size of the files that were in the folder.

Improve this answer
3
  • 1
    yes, I learnt this the hard way
    – Sathyajith Bhat
    Commented Sep 27, 2012 at 12:25
  • 1
    this answer should have "it would NOT be safe ...the correct action here is..." and move to the top of the post. It's the most important part, and most directly corresponds to the question title. As now appearing after the image it looks almost like a footnote, of perhaps little importance.
    – matt wilkie
    Commented May 13, 2013 at 19:43
  • It would be worth mentioning that Dropbox does keep a backup copy of the files (30 days for free accounts), so even in case they are deleted anyone can still restore them.
    – Ilari Kajaste
    Commented Oct 24, 2013 at 11:54

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.