- Deleting files will help you free up space on your Google Drive. However, the amount of space released will depend on several factors.
- Only the owner of the file can delete it. Others are only removing the file from their view and not deleting it.
- If you delete a shared folder or file in Google Drive, it will be removed, and all files will be sent to Trash.
All You Need to Know About Deleting Files From Google Drive
- Only the file owner can delete the file. Others only remove the file from their view and do not delete it.
- The file’s owner is the one who uploaded it to Google Drive. The storage used will count against the file’s owner’s Google Drive quota only.
- When you delete a file from one of your devices, say, the Google Drive Android app, the file will also be deleted from other devices, such as the iPhone/iPad app and the web version.
- If you delete a file from any of Google Drive products such as Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, etc., it will also be removed from Drive. The same holds true for the vice versa situation, i.e., deleting from Drive will remove it from other services.
What Happens When You Delete an Unshared File or Folder
If you have uploaded a file to your Google Drive folder, deleting it will move it to Google Drive’s Trash or Bin folder. Similarly, when you delete an unshared folder from your Drive, all the files inside that folder will be deleted and moved to Trash as well.
Trash is a special type of folder that keeps your deleted files for 30 days, after which they are deleted permanently. You can delete the file manually from the Trash if you don’t want to wait for 30 days. Trash helps in recovering files within 30 days of deleting them if you accidentally deleted them.
Note: Files stored in Google Drive’s Trash count against Google Drive storage. Find out what else counts against Drive storage .
What Happens When You Delete a Shared File or Folder That You Own
When you delete a shared file that you uploaded to Google Drive, it is deleted from your view and sent to the Trash folder for 30 days . You can recover the file within 30 days or delete it permanently from Trash before 30 days. The file will be deleted permanently after 30 days from the Trash. The same holds true for shared folders.
For others who have access to your shared file or folder, the file/folder will vanish from their Google Drive account. However, they can still access the individual Google Drive service files such as Docs, Slides, etc., if they have the file’s sharing link. You will find the link in your email.
When they open such a deleted file, they will be notified that the shared file is in the owner’s trash and will be deleted permanently. To continue using the file, they must create its copy using the Make a copy button. Alternatively, the owner of the file can transfer the ownership of the file before deleting it.
Other files, such as images, PDFs, cannot be accessed when deleted from the owner’s end . Accessing such a file will show an error that the file is in the owner’s trash .
What Happens When You Delete a Shared File or Folder That Is Owned by Someone Else
You will find all the shared files/folders under the ‘Shared with me’ section in Google Drive. Depending on whether the file is part of a shared folder or doesn’t belong to any folder, three situations arise.
Case 1: Delete a Shared File
When you remove a shared file that doesn’t belong to any folder, the file is removed from your Google Drive view. Since you are not the owner of the file, it’s not actually deleted for everyone. The owner and the users who have access to the shared file can still use it normally.
Tip: Unable to delete Google Drive files? Learn how to fix if Google Drive won’t delete files .
The file will not be visible in your Trash folder as you have merely removed the shortcut of the file or folder and not the actual file owned by someone else. However, if you click on the file’s shared link again, you can still access the file, and it will appear again in your Google Drive. The file’s owner will not be informed that you have removed the file.
Case 2: Delete a Shared Folder
All of the above holds true for folders as well. That is, deleting a shared folder will remove it and its associated files from your view only. Nothing will happen on the actual owner’s end.
Case 3: Delete a Shared File From a Shared Folder
An exception exists that if you delete a file from within a shared folder, it will become orphaned . That is, even though the file vanishes from everyone’s view, it’s not actually deleted. The real owner of the file can still access it. The file will be available under the owner’s My Drive folder. They can even search for the file to find it.
What Happens When You Delete Your File Added in Someone Else’s Shared Folder
In such situations, only the folder and the files owned by the folder’s owner will be deleted for everyone. Other files (owned by others) will become orphaned as they do not have a folder now but won’t be deleted.
Basically, files added by other users will remain in their own Google Drive accounts. Since the folder no longer exists, the owner of the files can find them in the root folder of Google Drive, i. e., My Drive. Alternatively, type unorganized in Google Drive’s search bar.
Tip: You should move orphaned files to new folders to organize them .
Free Up Storage
We hope you understand the aftereffects of deleting files or folders from Google Drive. To sum it up, deleting shared files owned by someone else will not free up storage on your Google Drive account. Only the files that you uploaded to Google Drive should be deleted to free up storage.
Next up: Google Drive doesn’t display folder size. Learn how to find folder sizes in Google Drive without downloading them from the next link.
