How Long Does Dropbox keep Deleted Files?

Deleted an important Dropbox file unknowingly? No worries. In this article I will share How long does Dropbox keep deleted files.

Dropbox maintains any of our deleted personal files for 30 days. Business customers enjoy a 120 day respite.

Dropbox saves our version history so we can go back to a specific time and place.

Dropbox is a synchronized file hosting cloud service platform where we can easily store and share all types of files and folders from any of the cloud storage drives like google drive or drive.

However, in any case, if we have deleted the files from our dropbox account and now it’s been more than 30 days then we definitely need to check this fantastic guide.

Here we are going to a solution for dropbox to recover deleted files older than 30 days and even after 120 days.

How long does Dropbox retain my deleted files and data?
Manage our team’s data retention policies.
What happens if I delete a file or folder permanently?
What happens if I delete a shared folder?
Mechanisms for Data Destruction
How to Recover Deleted Dropbox Files Effectively?

Table of Contents

How Long Does Dropbox Retain my Deleted Files and Data?

Dropbox saves the deleted version of files for a particular period of time so that we can recover them whenever required.

If that particular time is crossed deleted files will mark for permanent deletion in our system and also removed from our storage servers as well. Once it is deleted, it can no longer be recovered or restored.

Our Dropbox plan determines the default file recovery period:

Dropbox users with the Basic, Plus and Family plans have 30 days.
Users of Dropbox Professional and Business have 180 days.

In the normal course of business, after this recovery window, all files will be deleted within 90 days. Depending on the number of files selected for deletion, it could take several more days to complete.

Keynote: If we have a data disposition policy in place, files may be deleted before the end of our recovery window.

Manage Our Team’s Data Retention Policies

Dropbox Business administrators can use data retention policies to help them meet compliance and regulatory requirements. Data retention policies are classified into two types:

Retention
Disposition.

Retention – Retention policies are based on the file’s most recent activity. A retention policy ensures that content is kept until the policy expires, regardless of whether a team member deletes or permanently deletes it.

Disposition – When a file was created or uploaded determines the disposition policy. When using a disposition policy, content is automatically deleted at the end of the policy and permanently deleted 31 days later. While team members have the ability to delete content at any time, administrators have the ability to download the content at any time before it is permanently deleted.

Keynote:

We can have up to 100 data retention policies.

Let’s take an example if a particular file was permanently deleted, and a new file was also created with the same name, but still, the new file only is retained.

What Happens if I Delete a File or Folder Permanently?

When we delete a file or folder permanently, it is no longer visible in any of our folders and cannot be recovered.

What Happens if I Delete a Shared Folder?

If we try to delete a file from a shared folder, the file can be restored by any member of the folder.

If we are the owner of the shared folder:

When we delete it permanently, it is removed from all members’ Dropbox accounts, and their access to it is permanently removed.
If we want to leave a copy of the folder for members, simply unshare it.

If we are not the owner of the shared folder:

Delete it permanently to remove the folder from your Dropbox account.
All other members of the folder still have access.

Mechanisms for Data Destruction

Dropbox deletes data from our servers using a secure deletion process. Furthermore, when a Dropbox storage disc reaches the end of its useful life or becomes damaged.

We use a decommissioning process( removal of installation) that is designed to physically or logically destroy the disc to the point where data cannot be recovered.

Our third-party service providers also follow secure protection processes for the media they control because of security purposes.

How to Recover Deleted Dropbox Files Effectively?

There may be situations with your deleted files, as discussed below:

Recover Deleted Dropbox Files Within 30 Days/120 Days

If we want to recover our deleted Dropbox files within 30 Days/120 Days, then there are three ways we can go for recovering the files in Dropbox. Let’s go ahead to see what are they.

Using Search Bar

In this method, we need to type the files which are deleted or related keywords in the search box of Deleted files on the Dropbox page.

We simply need to choose our required file from the list of options under Deleted files then press the restore button.

The selected file will be immediately sent back to the ‘My files’ in our Dropbox account.

2. Recover files using Version History

Dropbox keeps snapshots of all changes we make to files to protect users from accidental file changes and deletions. Except for folders, the software saves versions of all file types. So, if we want to undo our changes and restore previous versions of any file, we can easily access the file version history overview.

Open Dropbox and sign in to your account.
Move the mouse if you want to restore the files in Dropbox.
Click the checkbox in the particular files left and click 3 dots beside the files, Click Activity then click Version History in the Dropbox.

Use the restore option that we want to restore.

Note: Dropbox Basic, Plus, and Family accounts can only recover file versions created within the last 30 days. For Dropbox Professional and Business subscription plans, users can restore older versions made within the last 180 days.

3. Dropbox Rewind File Recovery

Virus attacks and ransomware threats are among the most terrifying ways to lose files. When this happens, you’re bound to lose a lot of data. Fortunately, Dropbox Rewind, a useful recovery tool, is included with this cloud storage software. Using this feature we can rewind or restore the folders from earlier.

Dropbox allows us to rename, and edit. If we are the admin of the Dropbox business account we can edit our team’s folder and also restore Dropbox files as well.

After signing in to Dropbox, click All files on the left side.
To rewind our entire Dropbox account, click Rewind this folder.

Click Get started. It will be shown in the graph and displays our folder activity as well.

Click continue and Rewind and it will take some time. Once it is completed we will receive an email from Dropbox.

Note: We can think of this feature for massive recovery of the file. Since Dropbox rewinds reciprocated a large number of changes and we can recover the deleted files.

End Message

Now we come to the conclusion in this article. We have seen enough information regarding how long Dropbox keeps deleted files.

It also depends upon the plan we choose. If you find confusion regarding the days hope this article will make you clear.

It has a high recovery rate and is excellent for personal use. We can easily recover our Dropbox files using simple steps.