Running out of cloud storage? It is time to permanently delete files from Google Drive to free some space. Google Drive comes with a threshold space of 15 gigabytes for free users. After that, you need to pay money for more cloud storage space. Media files like ultra HD videos, high definition photos and heavy documents fills up 15 GB space within a month. If you want to store more photos to Google Drive, then either you have to buy more storage space or delete older files from the drive.
Deleting files from Google Drive is very similar to deleting files in PC. You just need to follow these steps to permanently delete files from Google Drive.
Steps to Permanently Delete Files from Google Drive
Files in Google Drive are deleted in two stages. When you delete it for the first time, it will move to Trash space in Google Drive and if you want to permanently remove it from the drive, you have to delete files from trash as well.
For moving Google Drive files to trash, follow the steps below:
- Login to Google Drive with your Gmail account.
- Browse and select the files you want to delete. If you want to select multiple files, then use shift or Ctrl keys while selecting files.
- Right Click on any of the selected files and select Move to Trash from the context menu that appears.
- A confirmation popup will ask you to confirm deletion of selected files. Choose Yes.
- All the files you have selected will be removed from Drive storage and moved to Trash space of Google Drive.
- Trash in Google Drive has an expiry date of 30 days by default. This means that all your files in Trash will be deleted permanently after 30 days.
For permanently deleting files from Google Drive, you have to remove it from the Trash memory. It can be done by following the steps below:
- Start by logging in your Google Drive account.
- In the left sidebar, scroll down until you see Trash option. In case the sidebar is not visible, click on the hamburger menu in the top left to toggle the sidebar.
- Click on Trash option to see all the files you have moved in past 30 days. As mentioned above, Trash has a threshold of 30 days by default, you can change it if you want. After 30 days, all your files will be deleted automatically forever.
- Once you are in Trash, there is two ways in which you can permanently remove files from Google Drive:
- The first way is to delete files one by one. In this way, you have to select one or multiple files in Trash and delete it from by choosing delete option in context menu.
- The second way is to delete files all at once. For this, you have an Empty Trash button somewhere at the top bar of Google Drive Trash. You tap on it, and it will delete all the files after confirmation.
- By selecting one of the above methods, your files will be permanently deleted from Google Drive and there is no way to get it back.
How to Save space without permanently deleting files from Google Drive?
After deleting files from Google Drive, there is no way to recover it, and sometimes we have to sacrifice some important photos and media for it. But there are other solution that you can try to save yourself from permanently deleting your files from Google Drive. Some of them are discussed here.
Don't Delete Files, Archive Instead.
It is recommended by Google Drive that it's better to archive unusable files than to delete it permanently. Files in archives take less space than original files as it is compressed by special algorithm by Google. If you have large media files like photos, and videos, you can archive them to free up some space. Similarly, you can archive other documents, zip, PDF, to save more space for new files.
Archive files are not deleted by Google Drive, instead they are kept in a separate space, and you can unarchive them any time. So next time when you think of freeing some space in Google Drive, Don't Delete, Archive Instead.
Use other Cloud Storage for Backup
Cloud Storage like Dropbox, One Drive, Tera Box, Media Fire, allow easy transfer of Google Drive files to their storage in one click. Although not all cloud storage provide the same amount of storage like Google Drive for free, but you can still use them as backup for important files.
Dropbox provides 2GB of free storage, Onedrive has 5GB limit and Mediafire is close to Google Drive it allows you to store up to 10GB of data on Cloud. These are some of the most trusted cloud storage you can use to back up your surplus files from Google Drive.
Create more than one Google Drive account
Another way of saving your files from disaster is to upload them to a new Google Drive account. Google does not have a limit of account that you can create on it, and every account can enjoy the 15 GB of storage for free. This is your best shot to back up your files without relying on any other Cloud Storage.
Buy more storage from Google Drive.
Google Drive allows its users to store 15GB of data without any subscription charge, but it does have subscription plans for extending it. If you are planning to exten your storage you can do so by buying Google One subscription plan as shown below.
As you can see it shows 15 GB free storage for all new users and have other three plans Basic, Standard, and Premium. Its price may change with time you read this blog post, so please assure it before buying a subscription.
Wrapping Up
Data has become an important part of our life and companies are investing a lot to keep these cloud storage up and functioning. Whenever, you plan to back up your files on any cloud storage, make sure it's reliable, secure, and trustable. Don't ever store sensitive files on unsecure or less secure cloud storage, because it can become a threat to you if your data gets leaked from there. Choose wisely and stay safe.
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