Delete and restore files in Google Drive

To delete your Google Drive files, move them to the trash. Files in trash will be automatically deleted later on 30 days. You tin restore files from your trash before the 30-24-hour interval time window. You lot tin likewise permanently delete them to empty your trash. If y'all delete, restore, or permanently delete multiple files or folders at once, it might take time for you to notice the changes.

Put a file in trash

To remove a file from your Drive, yous tin can put it in your trash. The file will stay in your trash for 30 days before being automatically deleted.

If you're the owner of the file, others tin can view information technology until you permanently delete the file. If you're not the possessor, others can see the file even if you empty your trash.

  1. On your Android phone or tablet, open the Google Drive app.
  2. At the bottom right, tap Files Files.
  3. Next to the file y'all want to delete, tap MoreMoreand thenRemove.

Empty your trash

Y'all can permanently delete an individual file or empty your entire trash. After deleting a file, anyone you lot've shared the file with will lose admission to information technology. If you desire others to be able to still view the file, you can give ownership to someone else.

  1. In the upper left, tap Carte du jour Menuand thenTrash.
  2. Next to the file you'd like to delete, tap MoreMoreand then  Delete forever.

Empty your entire trash

To empty your entire trash, get to drive.google.com on a computer.

Recover a file from trash

If you put a file in your trash but determine that you still desire information technology, yous can put information technology back in your Drive.

  1. In the upper left, tap Menu Menuand thenTrash.
  2. Adjacent to the file you lot'd like to save, tap More thanMoreand thenRestore.

Notation: If you're not the owner of the file, contact the owner to have them restore it.

If yous tin can't recover your deleted file

If you delete a file and need to get it back, contact a Drive specialist. To detect your file, phone call or conversation with us.

You deleted something and want it dorsum

If you lot deleted something recently using Google Drive or the Google Drive desktop app, y'all might exist able to restore the file yourself.

Restore from your Trash

  1. Open your Google Drive App.
  2. Tap the file yous'd like to recover.
  3. TapRestore.

You tin't find something & you don't think you deleted information technology

Try these steps

Cheque the action console

  1. Open up your Google Drive App
  2. On the left, tapMy Drive.
  3. At the top right, tap InfoInfo.
  4. Scroll downwards and expect for your file.

Try an advanced search

  1. Open your Google Bulldoze App.
  2. In the search bar, tap the icon to the far right.
  3. Use the advanced search options to find your file, like "blazon:spreadsheets."

If the steps above didn't help, consider these special cases:

If you created the file

If you created a file in Drive and can't notice information technology, information technology may exist orphaned. An orphaned file might accept lost all of its parent folders. The file withal exists but is harder to discover.

How files lose their binder

  • You create a file in someone else's folder and they delete that folder. The file isn't deleted. It's automatically moved to your My Drive.
    Important: Just you can delete the files you ain.
  • Yous share a folder with someone and they remove your file from the binder. The file isn't deleted, it'southward automatically moved to your My Drive.

Discover your orphaned files

  1. In the Drive search field, enter: is:unorganized possessor:me
  2. When y'all detect the file, move it to a binder in My Bulldoze so information technology's easier to detect next fourth dimension.

Search now

If someone else created the file

When someone creates a file, they can delete, rename, and restore it. Contact the person who created the file and ask them to restore it or share it with you again.

If information technology was in a binder someone else created

If someone deleted that folder, you won't run across that folder in your Bulldoze anymore.

Notice files you created that are in deleted folders

Find all files that are in deleted folders

To make that file easier to notice in the future, elevate it into a binder in "My Drive."

More on how to discover files

Did you try advanced search?

To refine your search in Drive, open Drive on a computer and use a search phrase with one of these options:

Search for Instance
Verbal phrase

"Utilize quotes around an exact phrase"

Ane or another

tacosOR nachos

Exclude a word

Water but not lakes:

water-lakes

File possessor

Files Dad owns:

owner:dad@gmail.com
They shared files

Files Mom shared with y'all:

from:mom@gmail.com
You lot shared files

Files y'all shared with Mom:

to:mom@gmail.com
Starred items

is:starred

Deleted items

is:trashed

File type

Spreadsheet file type:

type:spreadsheet

Time frame

Before or after January eighteen, 2015.

before:2015-01-eighteen

later:2015-01-18
Title

title:"The title goes here"
App

Files opened in Google Drive:

app:"Drive"

Which files tin can be recovered?

We can assistance y'all recover recently deleted files for a limited time if you utilise Google Drive with a consumer account (and not an account through your work, schoolhouse, or other group) AND one of these is true:

  • You lot created the file.
  • Y'all uploaded the file to Google Drive.
  • Yous accepted ownership of the file from someone.

If you utilize an account through your work, school, or other group, contact your administrator for help.

If your Google Account was deleted, yous might not be able to recover your files.

If you think that someone accessed your Google Drive without your permission, nosotros recommend taking steps to make your account more secure.

If y'all demand to recover mails from Gmail

Learn how to recover emails from Gmail.

Contact u.s.

To contact us, sign in to your Google Account.

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