In case you did not already know, there are many ways to upload files, photos, documents, and whatnot to Google Drive. Some are manual, while others depend on automatic syncing with local folders and third-party cloud storage services. Because of that, many files can be unnecessarily uploaded to your Drive account. When you go on to delete them from the main account, they are not lost at once.
You will not be able to see them anymore, but they are still present at the backend. This is done so that a user can recover deleted files within a specific period. It proves somewhat helpful when you delete an important document by mistake. In the following article, we will look at how you can find and recover deleted files on Google Drive. Have you started using Google Drive relatively recently? Here are 10 tips for a great user experience.
What happens to deleted files in Google Drive?
If you have turned on Back up and Sync, any item you delete will stay in the Google Drive trash for 30 days before they are automatically removed for good. Back up and sync is a storage service that automatically saves uploaded files to a Google server. These files remain accessible on any device where you are logged in. Files stored with the backup enabled are also directly manageable from remote devices. Moreover, G Suite edits are also saved and updated across all logged-in sessions. Are you facing problems with the Google Drive syncing process? Take a look at how you can fix Google Drive not syncing issue.
What happens with deleted files as far as the end user is concerned? They get removed from your account and cannot be found in any of their previous locations and folders. Deleting a file removes all its private shortcuts and may even hide it in shared drives. It is important to note that any file deleted from the Google Drive menu will not be automatically removed from local storage. This holds specifically true when those files have been downloaded to your mobile phone or desktop.
For items that are not being backed up by sync, the recovering cushion period is only limited to 30 days. If you see a file that you think was already deleted once, it might be on a removable memory card. To erase its preview, use your device’s inherent file manager application. Do not forget that the Google Drive trash folder is not infinite. Files in your trash take up space in Google Drive but are not synced with other devices anymore. Remember that deleting something when the trash is full pops up an immediate request for permanently deleting some of the items.
Recovering deleted files on Google Drive for web
Whenever you want to restore a deleted file on Google Drive, the first place you need to check is the trash folder. As previously described, it contains all deleted items for up to 30 days. If you are lucky enough, this time would not have been over, resultantly allowing you to restore that file with ease. Keeping its significant value in mind, Google retained the tab for the trash folder on its primary menu panel on the left.
Step 1: Launch your preferred internet browser and go to “Google Drive.” Log in with your account.
Step 2: Make sure that you are on the Google Drive homepage. By default, you will be on the “My Drive” tab. You can view the suggested folders and file sections from this page.
Step 3: On the left side of your screen, you will see a menu panel. Click on the “Trash” tab at the very bottom. There is also a bin icon right next to it.
Opening the trash folder
Step 4: Doing so takes you to the trash folder. It would be empty if no files were deleted in the last 30 days. Otherwise, you will be able to see recent deletions and their respective timestamps.
Step 5: Locate the file you want to restore. Hover your mouse cursor over the file preview and right-click on it. A small window pops up with two different options. Click on “Restore” to recover that file at once.
Restoring a file
Step 6: If you want to restore multiple files simultaneously, draw a bounding box on top of them. This behaves similarly to what you see in Windows file manager. All selected files are then highlighted in blue. Right-click on any preview and select “Restore.” Doing so collectively recovers all files.
Recovering multiple files together
Recovering deleted files from Google Drive mobile app
Now that you have seen how to recover deleted files on Google Drive for the web let us see the same process for mobile phones. Please note that Google Drive mobile applications for Android and iOS are relatively identical. There are no noticeable differences in their interface. For the sake of this tutorial, we will list down the steps for Android, but then again, these are pretty much similar for iOS.
Step 1: Open the “Google Drive” mobile app on your phone. Log in with your account.
Step 2: Make sure that you are on the Google Drive homepage. You will be on the “Files” tab by default. It displays suggested folders and files sections on your screen. Next, tap on the hamburger menu icon located in the top left corner.
Opening the Google Drive menu
Step 3: A new panel slides in from the left side. It contains several Google Drive settings, specialized folders, and preferences. Tap on the “Trash” tab to open that.
Opening the trash folder on mobile
Step 4: The trash folder would be empty if no files were deleted in the last 30 days. Otherwise, you will be able to see recent deletions and their respective timestamps.
Step 5: Locate the file you want to restore. Tap on the three-dot icon for that item. A small window slides up from the bottom of your screen. Select “Restore” to recover that file at once.
Restoring a file on mobile
Step 6: If you want to restore multiple files simultaneously, long press one of the items. Doing so selects that file and also puts Google Drive in selection mode. Next, select all files that are to be restored.
Step 7: Once all files have been selected, tap on the three-dot icon in the top right corner and select “Restore.” All items are immediately restored to their original folders.
Restoring multiple files together
Why can a certain file not be found?
If a deleted file or document cannot be found in the trash, there are limited ways to restore it afterward. You might be unable to restore a file if it was moved to the trash more than 30 days ago. Emptying that folder removes all of its contents permanently. This also holds for items deleted from the file manager without backup. Therefore, turning on Back up and Sync is always advised if you want to find and recover such files seamlessly.
If a Google Drive account has been inactive for more than two years or a user exceeds the storage limit, the content present on that account may be impacted. When a file gets removed this way, there is no possible method for getting it back. However, not everything is as out of sorts. Before your files are removed, Google Drive sends a notice via email and provides multiple opportunities to avoid permanent deletion.
Recovering deleted files after 30 days
As described earlier, a deleted file gets permanently removed after 30 days. Although even after the 60 days time period elapses, there is still an indirect way to perform recovery. For this, you need to contact Google support. Yes, those files have been removed, but it is still possible for Google to restore them from their database. Remember that this method only works in some cases and is not guaranteed to recover such items every time.
Step 1: Launch your preferred internet browser and go to “Google Drive.” Log in with your account.
Step 2: Make sure that you are on the Google Drive homepage. By default, you will be on the “My Drive” tab. You can view the suggested folders and file sections from this page.
Step 3: There are some menu options in the top right corner. Click on the support icon. Doing so opens up a drop-down menu. Go to “Help.”
Opening the help window
Step 4: A minimized help window pops up on your screen. This window contains some popular and widely useful help resources. Scroll down to the “Need more help?” section. Click on “Contact us.”
Contacting Google support
Step 5: Contacting Google support is divided into three simple steps. Firstly, you need to give a title to your query. Type a suitable title and then click on “Next.”
Providing query title
Step 6: The second step again presents you with some helpful resources. Click on “Next step.”
Step 7: Lastly, you will be shown the contact options. Usually, it contains chat support or email. Select whatever you want and then list down your query in detail.
Contact options
Conclusion
Google Drive allows you to recover deleted files if 30 days have not yet passed. Within this period, you can go on to open the trash folder, select the files you want to recover, and click on the restore button. If a file gets permanently deleted, the only viable option is to contact Google support for a possible recovery. Do you want to make the most out of online cloud storage? Here are 10 essential Chrome extensions for Google Drive.
