Delete and restore files
Deleting in Drive moves things to Recently deleted, where they still count against your storage. How to restore, and how to delete for good.
Deleting something in Drive does not remove it straight away. It goes to Recently deleted, where you can put it back — and where it still takes up your storage until you delete it for good.
Delete a file or folder
- Open the item's menu — the ⋮ on its row, or a right-click on a wide screen — and choose Delete.
- A dialog asks Delete "Invoice.pdf"? and tells you where it goes: It goes to Recently deleted, where it still counts towards your storage until you delete it forever.
- Confirm.
Deleting a folder takes everything inside it with it.
Select several items and the bar offers Delete 3 items. With a row selected, Delete or Backspace does the same thing.
An upload that never finished has only Delete in its menu — there is nothing to open or move.
Recently deleted
While you are in Drive, the drawer lists My files with your folder tree, and Recently deleted under it. Open it to see everything you have deleted, as one flat list, at /drive/deleted. When it is empty it says Nothing recently deleted — Deleted files wait here until you delete them forever or empty the folder.
At the top of the list is the reminder that matters for your storage: Deleted files go to Recently deleted, where they still count towards your storage until you delete them forever.
Each row has two things in its menu:
| Action | What happens |
|---|---|
| Restore | The item goes back into Drive. |
| Delete forever | It is removed permanently. The dialog reads Delete "Invoice.pdf" forever? — This cannot be undone. For a folder: Everything inside is deleted with it. This cannot be undone. |
You cannot open or preview a file from Recently deleted. Restore it first.
Empty Recently deleted
Press Empty Recently deleted. The dialog reads Empty Recently deleted? — Everything here is deleted forever. This cannot be undone.
This is the one action that frees the storage in a single step, and it is the one that cannot be taken back.
Anything left in Recently deleted is removed for good 30 days after you deleted it. Until then it is still yours and still counts against your storage; after that it is gone, with no notice and no way back.
What "for good" means here
When you delete for good, the encrypted object is removed from our file storage and then the row that pointed at it is removed too. There is no second bin behind the first, and no copy kept for support.
We never had a readable copy of the file or of its name, so there is nothing we could restore even if you asked: support cannot see which file you mean, cannot look inside it and cannot bring it back. If a file matters, keep a copy of your own before you delete it for good.
Deleting your account
Deleting your Private.Ki account removes your Drive with it — every file, every folder and everything in Recently deleted — along with the rest of your data. See Delete your account.
What our server sees
Cannot see
- Which file you deleted, by name or by type
Can see
- That an item of a given size has been put in Recently deleted, and when
- That an object was removed from storage
Common questions
Does a deleted file free up my storage?
Not until it is deleted for good. While it sits in Recently deleted it still counts. Empty Recently deleted, or delete the individual items forever, to free the room.
Can I undo "Delete forever"?
No. Both dialogs say so before you confirm, and there is no recovery afterwards — not for you, and not through support.
I restored a folder. Did its contents come back too?
Yes — a folder and everything that was inside it move together, in both directions.
Does a file in Recently deleted still show in my folders?
No. It is only in Recently deleted, and only until you restore it or it passes 30 days.
Does deleting mail affect Drive?
No, they are separate places — but they share one storage meter, so emptying either frees room for the other. See File size and storage.