Peculiar problem with dropbox

There is a peculiar problem associated with Dropbox. To briefly state "Deleted files in shared folders only show as long as they are shared and vice versa". If you leave a shared folder (even with a copy of the files) the deleted files cannot be restored. This is quite a problem since rarely people take back up of the backup data i.e. data on Dropbox. A problem description, the reason for this peculiarity and few solutions :) are given here.

Problem Description:

• You own a folder on dropbox. You decide to share the folder.
• One of the collaborators on the shared folder deletes files in the shared folder.. maybe to save on space, etc.
• Fortunately you spotted the file deletion  on a timely manner (use events or RSS feeds)
• So instead of restoring those deleted files on the shared folder (limited period history is present for even free accounts) which would have restored files but also at all collaborators' end, so you decide to unshare the shared folder to prevent this from happening in future
• You presumed that once you unshare, later you can restore the deleted files.
• But now in the deleted file history you can't find spot the deleted files. 

So you are now left in the dark not able to restore the deleted files of which you had only one copy!

Reason:
The "problem" mentioned here is a side-effect of the way the Dropbox servers are implemented. Deleted files and previous revisions of a folder are kept in a completely separate category depending on whether the folder is shared or not, and if you leave a folder you can't recover these files until it's shared again. That is, if you've unshared and left the share all Pack Rat history goes with it. 

Solution:

This is a tested solution. Atleast it worked for me! :)

• Go to www.dropbox.com/share
• Select past folders in the drop down menu
• Rejoin the shared folder "folder_name" - even if its only you on the share the last time you had left
• Go to the "recovered" share folder with name like "folder_name (1)"
• Select the option for listing deleted files (even for a free account there is a limited history for file recovery).
• Recover the deleted files. Now you can peacefully leave the share or unshare the folder

Alternate Options:

These are not tested at my end. Check it out if it works for you. 

• If you share the folder with yourself, you should be able to see the deleted files?
• When you rejoin the shared folder, you can restore the deleted files?
• As a last resort, submit a ticket: www.dropbox.com/ticket and ask for assistance. (Replies take a few working days). You can see the status of tickets at http://dropbox.zendesk.com
• Lastly, these solutions were pointed out by dropbox moderators on this forum. Check the link, you might get some help out there.

Having said all this, Dropbox is still the best free online file storage service. 

Cheers to the folks at Dropbox and Happy Dropboxing..!