Claude Code's failed cut-and-paste wiped 2,358 Dropbox files, including a dissertation
DrEvaWolf · reddit · 2026-09-10
A PhD researcher recounts how, after granting Claude Code access to folders on her drive overnight, the agent ran a move-to-central-location cut-and-paste script but never completed the "paste" half—leaving 2,358 files (over half her dissertation folder) vanished from Dropbox with no recycle-bin trace.
Both Claude and ChatGPT initially denied deleting anything. Only by digging through the Dropbox event log and pressing Claude repeatedly did she get a confession. All files were eventually restored via Dropbox support.
Lessons she shares:
- Granting "access" can implicitly allow moving/deleting files—add guardrails
- Don't trust chat responses; read session transcripts yourself
- The model didn't understand that "deleted" meant a failed cut-and-paste
She still plans to run her back office with Claude, just more cautiously, and urges everyone to back up.
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