Google has today morning notified all Google Drive Users by email and similar alerts, that deleted files in the drive trash will not longer stay for perpetuity but will be deleted after 30 days with effect from the 13th October 2020, when the notice will come into force.
According to the email with the subject “[Update] Google Drive trash items will be automatically deleted after 30 days starting on October 13, 2020”, Google writes to let users know “that starting October 13, 2020, Google Drive is making a change so that its trash behaves more consistently with the rest of Google applications”. By consistent behaviour, google is trying to achieve uniformity with all its applications that have a trash alternative like Gmail, Google Photos where deleted files will stay temporarily on the servers for 30 days.
The files need to have been in the trash for 30 consecutive days.
The upside with this deletion is that the users will be given more cloud storage that is occupied by the deleted files in the trash. The deleted files occupy cloud space, but permanent deletion frees it.
In the email, it is further clarified that all files in shared drives trash will also automatically delete after 30 days and that the changes affect items that are trashed from any device and any platform.
Users are encouraged to restore the files in the trash that they do not want to lose before the expiry of the 30 days. They are also encouraged to update to the latest versions of the software (Google Drive) to enjoy the updates.
