Google Drive trash: seeing and emptying it

Everything syncing removes from the cloud goes to the Google Drive trash, where Google keeps it for thirty days. Meanwhile, those files still count against your storage. HtkCloudSync shows you how much that trash weighs and lets you empty it, after confirmation.

The window

On the “Accounts” page, the “Storage” line of each account shows the space used as Google reports it, for instance “15.1 GB used of 107.4 GB, including 1.2 GB in the trash”, followed by how fresh the reading is (“read 10 min ago”), with a level bar. The share of the trash only appears when it is not zero. On the right, a full-trash icon, named “Empty the cloud trash…”, opens the emptying.

The space is read from Google about once an hour, and every minute while a transfer is waiting for space. If it has never been read, or if it is older than twenty-four hours, the line shows “Capacity: unknown”, without a bar: HtkCloudSync never shows a figure it does not hold from Google.

Step 1: read the trash

Click the Empty the cloud trash… icon. HtkCloudSync queries your Drive to count what the trash really contains at that moment, items inside trashed folders included. If it is empty, the “The cloud trash is already empty” message appears and nothing else happens.

Step 2: confirm

Otherwise, the “Empty the cloud trash?” question appears with what was read: “23 items (1.2 GB) in the cloud trash of … will be permanently removed.” followed by “This cannot be undone. Files in your local folder are not affected.” The default button is Cancel; Empty Trash confirms.

Step 3: the result

The “Cloud trash emptied: 1.2 GB freed” message confirms, and the account's space is read again. Google may finish the emptying with a slight delay: the figure updates at the next cycle.

If the trash changed between the reading and the confirmation, because a file landed there meanwhile for instance, the service refuses the emptying and nothing is deleted: the reason appears at the bottom of the window, and starting again shows the real content.

Important: this is the only permanent deletion HtkCloudSync can do, and it never happens without a click of yours, confirmed. Syncing itself never empties the Google Drive trash, and the app never touches your desktop trash.

Why the trash fills up

Every file you delete on the computer is sent to the Google Drive trash, never deleted permanently. This is deliberate: you can restore it from Google Drive for thirty days. Excluding a folder from syncing does not fill this trash: only the local copies go, to your desktop trash. See Data safety.

When your Drive is full

When Google refuses an upload for lack of space, the account moves to “Attention required” and the transfers concerned wait. Emptying the trash is often the quickest way to get space back: as soon as the service sees the space freed, the waiting uploads resume on their own.

Note: the command line offers the same action, with the same confirmation; see Command line.