Trash, expiry and getting a file back

Deleting a file or a folder moves it to the trash of the workspace it was in. It stays there for 30 days, visible to everybody in the workspace, and is then permanently deleted. Until that happens you can put it back.

Whether a workspace has a trash depends on the plan of the person who owns it, not on your own plan. In a workspace on a paid plan the move happens straight away and a message in the corner offers Undo for a few seconds, which puts everything back where it was. Two situations ask you to confirm first instead, because neither can be undone: a workspace on the free plan, which has no trash at all, and a selection that is part of a share link, since recovering a file does not put it back on the link.

If a paid plan ends, whatever was already in the trash stays there and keeps counting towards your storage. You can still open Trash on the free plan for exactly that reason: to get those files back, or to empty it and free the space. What changes is that nothing new goes there, so from then on deleting is permanent.

1. 1

   Open Trash in the sidebar

   It lists what was deleted, with the date it went in.

2. 2

   Select what you want back

   Folders come back with their contents.

3. 3

   Press Recover

   Items return to where they were. If the folder they lived in is gone, they land at the top level of the workspace so you can see them.

Two consequences of the trash being a holding area rather than a deletion. Files in the trash still occupy your storage, and only give it back when they leave the trash for good. And putting a file in the trash removes it from any share link it was part of, permanently: recovering the file does not put it back on the link.

Who may do what#

Anybody with edit rights in the workspace can delete, recover and permanently delete. A viewer can do none of the three, including the reversible one. Roles are set per workspace: see Members and roles.

The free plan expiry#

This is a different mechanism and the one that surprises people. On the free plan a file is deleted 30 days after it was uploaded, or 30 days after a paid plan ended, whichever is later, whether or not you have touched it. Files do not go to the trash first, and there is nothing to recover afterwards.

The second half of that rule is what happens when you leave a paid plan. Everything already in your workspace gets a full 30 days counted from the day the plan ends, however long ago it was uploaded, and anything you upload after that gets its own 30 days as usual. You are emailed at the start of that period, seven days before the deletion date and again the day before it, and a banner in the app shows the date until it passes.

• What expiry touches: files in your workspace, including ones somebody sent you through an upload link.
• What it does not touch: photos in Gallery, which are kept on every plan including free, and documents, sheets, canvases and forms.
• If you cancel a paid plan: the 30 days are counted from the day the plan ends, so nothing is deleted before then. While your account holds more than the free plan allows you cannot upload anything new, and you can still open, download, share, export and delete everything you have.
• If a payment fails: nothing is swept while the payment is being retried. See Invoices and payment.