How to Delete Files From Google Drive

This article explains how to delete files from your Google Drive account from the desktop site and the mobile app. Deleting files, especially large ones or items sitting in the Trash folder, is an easy way to free up space in your account.

How to Delete Google Drive Files

You can delete both files and folders from the Google Drive website and the mobile app. It doesn't matter if it's a document, video, spreadsheet, image, slideshow, etc.; they're all accessible through Drive.

From the Website

1. Visit the Google Drive website, and log in to your account if necessary.

2. Select the folder or file you want to remove. To select more than one item simultaneously, hold down the Ctrl or Command key as you make your selection.

   You might not be able to select everything you want to at once. If, for example, the files you want to delete exist in multiple folders, you'll need to split up the task; delete the first set first, then go into the other folder and repeat the process.

3. Select the trash icon at the top. Deleted files are moved into the Trash folder.

From the App

If you're working from your tablet or phone, you can delete files from Google Drive with the app.

1. Locate the file or folder you want to remove. You can search for it or browse manually through the Files tab.

2. Tap the three dots at the top of the screen and choose Remove.

   To delete more than one item at once, tap-and-hold on the first one, and then continue tapping for the other items. Tap the trash icon at the top if you go this route.

3. Confirm by selecting Move to trash.

Does Deleting Files From Google Drive Free Up Space?

Yes, but not immediately.

If your intent when deleting files is to free up space in your Google Drive account, like to make room for more emails or photos, you might notice that your storage usage doesn't change after completing the above steps.

That's because Google Drive doesn't permanently remove deleted items. It instead collects them in the Trash folder, allowing you to restore them if you need to.

You must manually empty this folder if you want to free up space instantly—otherwise, they'll be permanently deleted automatically after 30 days.

How Do I Permanently Delete Files From Google Drive?

To skip the 30-day wait for trashed items to be removed, delete the files for good by emptying the Trash folder. It will free up the space the Trash folder is occupying. In other words, if there are 500 MB of files in there, emptying it will instantly restore half a gigabyte of space.

Select Trash from the Drive menu to open the Trash folder, then select Empty trash > Delete forever to delete those items permanently. To remove just a single item or a selection of files and folders, right-click them to find the delete option.

The app works basically the same way. If you're picking which items to delete for good, tap and hold them and then use the three-dot menu at the top of the app to find the same delete option as the website.

How Do I Clean Up My Google Drive?

Google Drive simplifies clearing away files to free up drive space. Below are some of the best ways to clean up your account, but before you begin, you'd be wise to take a quick look at where in your account the most storage is being used. It will help identify where you should focus.

Open Google One Storage and glance at the storage details list. As you can see, most of the data in this example is in Google Drive, but Gmail and Google Photos count toward Drive storage as well.

See What's Using Up the Most Space

We'll start with addressing Google Drive directly. Here's how to list all the biggest files Drive is storing, putting you just a few clicks away from some potentially huge space gains:

1. Visit your Google Drive Storage page by selecting Storage from the left-side menu.

2. All the files using your Drive storage are listed here, sorted by size. It's a great place to regain the most storage in the quickest way possible.

3. Select and delete anything you don't want anymore (and remember to do the same in the Trash folder).

Transfer Files Elsewhere

Files take up storage in Google Drive because, well, they are stored there! If you take something out and then delete it from Drive, you'll free up that space for something else.

For example, say you've been keeping home movies online. Instead of having them sit in Google Drive, especially if you're nearing your storage limit, transfer them to a different online file storage service. There are plenty to choose from, many of which have ample space for video backups.

Downloading Gmail messages isn't a straightforward process, but it's still possible and will free up lots of room if you have a bunch of attachments. Downloading from Google Drive, however, is simple: right-click a selection of files/folders, and select Download.

Something else to consider is Google Photos. Since Photos counts toward Drive storage, this is another easy way to clean up your Google Drive. However, instead of following the above steps, use Google Takeout. It provides an easy way to transfer data from Google Photos out of your Google account and into a different service like Flickr; no manual downloading or uploading is necessary.

Use Google's Storage Manager

Other handy details about Google Drive usage can be had from the Storage Manager. This page provides cleanup suggestions, making it super easy to delete things you might have forgotten about. For example, you can wipe all your Gmail spam messages and deleted items from here.