Sinking feelings don’t come much worse than when you think you delete something you really need. Many of us now have files synced to the cloud from our phones and laptops, but sometimes data can disappear from there too—maybe through a click of the wrong button or a swipe across the wrong menu option.
If this happens to you, don’t lose hope–most cloud storage services come with a deleted file restore function that’s similar to the Recycle Bin on Windows and the Trash folder on macOS.
It means that any files that you delete, deliberately or not, can be recovered without too much fuss. You just need to recognize your mistake quickly. We’ll take you through your options for when files in the cloud get deleted in error, and how you can bring them back.
How cloud file sync typically works
Most cloud services, including Google Drive and iCloud, keep up a two-way sync between the cloud and your devices. That means if you add, modify, or delete a file on your phone, the same changes get copied to your cloud storage, and vice versa. It means backups are instant and automatic, but it can lead to issues where files disappear unexpectedly.
It also means that if files and folders are accidentally erased in one location, they’re also erased in another, which rather defeats the point of having a cloud backup in the first place. Thankfully, the redundancy features we’ve outlined below can help you get your data back after it’s been wiped from the cloud.
While two-way sync is usually the default setting, it doesn’t always have to be. You can upload files separately to your cloud storage. With iCloud Drive on the web, for example, click the upload button above the file list (the arrow pointing to a cloud) to pick a file from your computer—this will stay in the cloud no matter what happens to the local copy.
It’s the same with Google Drive on the web. In any folder you can click New and then File upload or Folder upload to copy something from your computer, with no two-way sync attached. Hopefully that should make everything clearer when it comes to how files are moved around and handled locally and in the cloud, so we can now turn our attention to recovering files.
Recovering Google Drive files
If you’ve deleted a file you want to get back in Google Drive, whether or not the deletion was triggered from a sync with your devices, you’ve got 30 days to bring them back. After that time, they’ll be gone from Google Drive forever—unless you’ve got them backed up somewhere else, you won’t be able to get them back.
If you’re on the web, click the Trash link in the left-hand menu bar to see everything that’s been deleted recently: You can sort through the files using the filters at the top, but you can’t open a file unless you restore it first. These files will be automatically deleted after 30 days, but you can clear them out immediately en masse by clicking the Empty trash button in the top right corner.
To restore a file, right-click on it and choose Restore (rather than Delete forever). To restore multiple files, use the Shift key or the Ctrl/Cmd (Windows/macOS) key to select all the files you want to bring back, then right-click on them. The files will be returned to the same folders in your Google Drive that they were deleted from.
The process is pretty similar if you’re using the Google Drive apps for Android or iOS. Tap the top left menu button (three horizontal lines), then Trash, to see recently deleted files: You can then tap the three dots next to an individual file and pick Restore to bring it back. You can also press and hold on the list to select multiple files, then tap the three dots (top right) to find the Restore option.
Recovering Apple iCloud files
Everything works in a similar way over on the iCloud cloud storage service run by Apple. There’s a 30-day window during which you can restore files that you’ve erased, and after which they’re gone forever—so past that point you’ll either have to retrieve them from somewhere else or do without them.
The easiest place to do this is actually iCloud on the web. From the opening screen, head down the page and click on the Data Recovery section—this leads you to a screen where you can access files, contacts, bookmarks, and calendars that have been recently erased across your Apple devices.
Follow the Restore Files link, and you can bring back some or all of your recently deleted files: Either select them individually, or use the Select All link to select everything on screen. At the bottom of the dialog box you’ll be met with two options: Delete the files permanently, or restore them to their original place in iCloud.
The same feature is available in the Files app on your iPhone. Tap Browse, then Recently Deleted: You can either press and hold on individual files to find the Recover and Delete Now options, or tap the three dots (top right) then choose Select to pick out multiple files at once. The delete and restore options then show up at the bottom of the screen.
