Google Drive is not only a file storage and synchronization service. It offers many more than storing files on its servers and synchronizing files across devices. One of them is sharing files and folders with people. Yes! You can share the files and folders that you store in Google Drive with anyone.
But what happens if you mistakenly or intentionally delete a google drive file someone shared or the one you owned? And you may have questions like “When I delete the files, does it delete them for everyone that has shared access to the folder?” or “Can the other members still access those under their deleted folder?”.
You may wonder what’re the answers to these questions. Keep on reading to find out the answers to these questions and to know what happens if you delete a shared file from Google Drive.
Table Of Contents
If you have the “Edit” permission for shared files, once you delete that file, it will also be deleted for every member of the shared folder. However, you won’t be able to permanently delete a file unless you are the owner of the shared folder.
All members can see the deleted files in their “Deleted Files” tab or “Trash”, and restore them within the time frame which is 30 days for Basic and Plus users, and 120 days for Business and Pro users.
If you are the owner of a shared folder or file and delete the same shared document, spreadsheet, or presentation that you own, it will be completely removed from Drive for all collaborators, and they will no longer have access to the document.
To avoid consequences, before deleting a document, you may want to make someone else its owner so that others can still access it.
- Does removing a file shared with you affects anyone else’s drive?
- If I delete a shared folder in google drive does it delete for everyone?
- How to delete everything in google drive
When you are working in shared files or folders on Google Drive remember that it is a shared space and so what you do in there will affect the other users of that same space.
If you have Edit permissions to a file in a shared space, even if you are not the owner, you could still move that file out of the shared folder. As a result of this action, your colleagues could lose access to that file.
However, you should not remove content from the shared folder you have edit permission. Other people in sharing cannot keep access if removed.
Sometimes, you may experience that Whenever you delete files, it only temporarily removes them from your view and then return when you refresh your google drive page. This is because When you remove a shared file within the shared with me section, it really just removes the shortcut to that file.
If you had access before, you will still have access after. If you click the link to that file after you remove it, the file will reappear in the shared with me section.
If by mistake you have deleted any shared file from the Shared with Me, then you can recover the shared file now.
FAQs
Answer: You can find the “shared with me” option in the left corner of your Google Drive below the “My Drive” option. When you click on the “Share with me” option, you can view all files and folders that are shared with you.
Answer:
- Files shared with you.
- Folders shared with you.
- Files shared with a link that you have opened.
You can also see
- The date the file was shared with you.
- The owner of the file.
- The document type.
Answer: Follow the below steps
Step 1: To delete a file from a shared folder in Google Drive, find the file you want to delete.
Step 2: Click on that file and click “Remove”
Step 3: The shared file will be removed from the “shared with me” view.
Answer: Anything that you can see in “Shared with Me” is just a link to the real file on the owner’s account. So, if you remove them from “Shared with me”, you only will lose a link, but other people in sharing are not affected. Even if you remove a link to the subfolder, you can continue to access the Main folder and some subfolders in the main folder.
You may like the following google drive tutorials:
- How to unzip files in Google Drive
- How to find large files in Google Drive
- How to upload multiple files to Google Drive from Android and iPhone
And that’s it. Hope you have learned the different possibilities that can happen when you delete a shared file from Google Drive!