How long does Dropbox keep my deleted files and information?

Dropbox saves deleted and previous versions of files for a specific period of time so you can recover them if desired. After that time, the deleted files are marked for permanent deletion in our system and are removed from our storage servers. Once they’ve been deleted, they can no longer be recovered or restored.

Your default file recovery period depends on your Dropbox plan:

  • Dropbox Basic, Plus, and Family users have 30 days.
  • Dropbox Professional and Business users have 180 days.

However, there are several add-ons that extend your file recovery period. Learn more about extended version history.

Note: Files may be permanently deleted before the end of the file recovery period if they are part of a data disposition policy.

Permanently deleting files

When you mark files for permanent deletion, you can initiate the deletion of your files from our servers immediately.

Learn how to permanently delete files

If you’re a Dropbox Business team member, your team admin may have limited your ability to permanently delete files.

Deleting your Dropbox account

If you delete your Dropbox Basic, Plus, Family, or Professional account, we’ll initiate deletion of the files you store on your account. 

See the Retention section of our Privacy Policy for more details

If you’re a Dropbox Business team member, only your admin can disable your account and delete your files.

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