How to remove Dropbox access from a computer you no longer have

dropboxSecurity

I have Dropbox installed on a few computers. One of which I no longer have access to.

I no longer wish for that computer to be able to have access to my Dropbox account but I see no way to stop that computer with Dropbox installed from being able to do so.

I went in on the website and changed my password but Dropbox installed on the computer is still able to sync even with the password changed!

I find this to be a major security issue. What if my laptop was stolen and I didn't want the thief to have access and be able to delete/ change the files on my Dropbox account? It seems there is no way to protect your Dropbox account from this sort of thing?

Best Answer

Whilst it is possible to unlink other computers through the web interface, as slhck noted, this leaves all of your files where you don't want them. Depending on the sensitivity of your files (and how much work you want for yourself) you can:

  1. Back up all Dropbox files locally
  2. Delete any sensitive files from your Dropbox
  3. Wait for the sync to remove these files from the remote computer
  4. Unlink the offending computer(s) from https://www.dropbox.com/account#security
  5. Return the backed-up files to your Dropbox for re-syncing

It might be worth leaving any other synced computers off (or disabling their syncs) during this process to avoid the sync deleting/restoring where unnecessary.

Related Topic