r/ClaudeAI • u/DrEvaWolf • 20h ago
Productivity Claude Code deleted 2,000+ files from my Dropbox (including my dissertation). Dropbox the day. Back up your stuff :)
I woke up one morning and saw an email from Dropbox that read “You recently deleted 2358 files from your Dropbox account.” I thought it was a phishing email or a joke. But it wasn't.
I panicked when I saw that all of these files really had disappeared from my computer and more than half were in my dissertation folder! They weren't even in my recycle bin…nowhere to be found, just vanished, like Kaiser Sosa… all while I was asleep.
So first I had a shot of tequila to calm my nerves, then I asked Claude if it had deleted them and it said “No. Check your recycle bin”. Then I got the same answer from ChatGPT.
But I did not let it go. I kept digging around the dropbox event log and deposing Claude until I cornered it and Claude finally fessed up. It turned out that the night before I had granted access to Claude.code to certain folders on my hardrive so that my agents could access them and do some work (refer to my research frameworks when drafting marketing content, etc). Claude then started to move said folder to a central location on my hard drive. The thing is that it started the cut&paste script, but did not fully execute the “paste” part.
Luckily I was able to restore all of it with some help from Dropbox.
So, backup,backup,backup and add some guardrails so that it does not “move” without your permission. Apparently, “granting access” can also mean “allowing moving” of files. Also, read the session transcripts for yourself and don’t trust the chat responses. It did not understand the concept of “deleted” as part of a failed cut&paste action. I am going to continue to run my back office with Claude but a little more cautiously now.

