How to Delete Files from Google Drive on Phone to Save Space

Deleting files from Google Drive on your phone can be a lifesaver when you're running low on space. Google Drive's storage capacity can fill up quickly, especially if you're storing a lot of large files.

If you have a lot of files in your Google Drive account, it can be overwhelming to decide which ones to delete. According to the article, the first step is to sort your files by size, which can be done by tapping the "Sort by" option and selecting "Size".

To free up space on your phone, deleting files from Google Drive is a great place to start. You can delete individual files or select multiple files at once to delete them all at once.

Consider reading: Google Drive Folder Size

You can delete both files and folders from the Google Drive website and the mobile app, making it easy to get rid of unwanted content.

Google Drive doesn't permanently remove deleted items, so if you want to free up space instantly, you must manually empty the Trash folder.

Deleted items will be permanently removed automatically after 30 days if you don't empty the Trash folder.

To check where your storage is being used, open Google One Storage and glance at the storage details list.

Most of your data in Google Drive is likely to be in the form of Google Drive files, but Gmail and Google Photos also count toward Drive storage.

If you delete files to free up space, you might notice that your storage usage doesn't change right away, because deleted items are stored in the Trash folder.

On a similar theme: How to Retrieve Deleted Text Messages from Google Drive

You can delete files from Google Drive on your phone using the mobile app. It's actually pretty easy.

Locate the file or folder you want to remove, either by searching for it or browsing manually through the Files tab. You can also delete multiple items at once by tapping-and-holding on the first one and continuing to tap for the other items.

To delete a file, tap the three dots at the top of the screen and choose Remove. Then, confirm by selecting Move to trash. If you want to delete multiple items, tap the trash icon at the top instead.

Emptying the Trash folder will instantly restore the space it's occupying. For example, if there are 500 MB of files in there, emptying it will free up half a gigabyte of space.

Additional reading: Trash Google Drive

To clean up your Google Drive, start by checking where your storage is being used. Open Google One Storage and glance at the storage details list to see which areas of your account are taking up the most space.

Files you delete from Google Drive will still be visible in your trash bin for 30 days. If you want to permanently remove them, you'll need to empty them from your trash bin.

To empty the trash bin, tap the three-dot icon beside the file you want to delete and then select Delete forever. Be aware that anyone you've shared the file with will lose access to it.

If you want others to view the file still, you can give ownership to someone else. Alternatively, you can wait 30 days for the files to be emptied automatically.

Consider reading: Google Drive Trash Empty