Orphaned Files in Google Drive: What Are They and How Can You Remove Them?

If you've ever come across an orphaned file in Google Drive, you may be wondering what it is. Here, we'll take a look at that and how to remove them.

We all know the file management can be a pain. Luckily, online tools such as Google Drive are here to help. But sometimes you can run into problems, such as orphaned files, and you're back to square one.

Here, we'll take a look at what orphaned files are in Google Drive, and how you can remove them.

What Are Orphaned Files in Google Drive?

In Google Drive, shared files can’t be deleted, but they disappear for the users. If the owner deletes a file, it can easily be restored from the recycle bin. But if any other user deletes a file, it disappears for all users, including the owner. The same problem occurs when you delete a parent folder with files still inside.

Related: How to Increase Google Cloud Storage for Photos, Drive, & Gmail

The files aren't yet gone for good, but they won't show up in your list of Google Drive files while taking up space in your account. These types of files are known as an orphaned file.

How to Deal With Orphaned Files in Google Drive

There are two simple methods to deal with orphaned files in Google Drive. You can recover the file, or remove it. Bear in mind, both of these methods can only be performed by the original file owner.

Search the Drive Directly by File Name

If the author knows the file name, and they see a file is missing, it's quite simple to search for it by the file name. On your Google Drive, type the name of the file in the search bar and relocate it to the desired folder or location.

Search the File in the Drive Using Parameters Without the File Name

Most of the time, the owner is unaware that a file has been deleted from a shared folder. In such cases, you'll need to check for orphaned files every now and then. You can search for these and remove them to free up your Google Drive space.

To find and delete these orphaned files:

1. Type is:unorganized owner:me in your Drive search bar and press Enter.

   
2. All the orphaned files of the owner will be displayed on the screen. If nothing appears in the search, it means that everything is still in place.
3. When you find orphaned files, right-click on a file and select Add to My Drive to restore them to your drive or Remove to delete them.
4. Once you have removed all your orphan files, go to Trash, and choose the files you want to permanently delete.
5. Select Delete Forever to completely remove these files from your drive, freeing up your Google Drive storage.

Free Up Storage Space, Remove Orphaned Files

One of the best ways to free up your storage is to delete all orphaned files completely. Using the above steps, you can find, restore, or delete orphaned files in your Google Drive.

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