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How to delete a file from Google Drive

For many of us, Google Drive has become an ideal place to store our files, predominantly due to the convenience of having it all accessible through an online service. With this in mind, if you don’t perform regular maintenance on your Drive account, it can get pretty messy. You need to know how to delete a file from Google Drive.

Whether you’re looking to delete a file you simply no longer need access to or you’re long overdue for some spring cleaning, here’s how.

Difficulty

Easy

Duration

5 minutes

What You Need

  • A computer, laptop, tablet, or phone with access to Google Drive

Deleting a file

Step 1: Go to your Google Drive’s account main homepage.

Step 2: To delete a file, right-click the file you want to delete. Click the Remove button at the bottom of the drop-down list.

The drop-down list that appears when right-clicking a file on Google Drive.

Step 3: Alternatively, click the file you want to delete and then within the top bar where all the tools are situated, click the Trash icon named "Remove."

The Remove button on Google Drive.

Step 4: To confirm the deletion of a file, you need to go to Google Drive’s Trash page. In the sidebar section, click Trash.

The Trash tool on Google Drive located on the sidebar.

Step 5: Right-click on the file you sent to Trash and click the Delete Forever button.

Another way you can delete the file is by clicking the file once and then selecting the Delete Forever icon at the top-right.

Don’t worry if you’ve deleted a file by mistake. That’s to be expected if your Google Drive is overwhelmed with all your files. Go to Trash, right-click on the mistakenly deleted file, and click the Restore option.

The button for deleting a file from Google Drive’s Trash folder.

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Zak Islam
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Zak Islam was a freelance writer at Digital Trends covering the latest news in the technology world, particularly the…
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