How to Delete Files from Google Drive on Mobile and PC

You may want to delete some files from your Google Drive if it’s storage becomes full. But how do you delete files from Google Drive? Find the answer in this tutorial, where you will also learn how to delete multiple, orphaned, and shared Google Drive files, as well as how to delete files by type and size.

Hold on! Do you need to delete files to free up storage space? Find out how you can increase your storage space by syncing multiple Google Drive accounts.

What Happens When You Delete Files From Google Drive?

Before we jump to the steps, learn what happens when you delete files from Google Drive.

Basically, when you remove a file from Google Drive, it’s taken to the Trash or Bin folder, where it will stay for 30 days until it gets deleted permanently. You can manually delete the file permanently before the 30-day expiration date.

You can only delete the files that you own. If you have shared a file with someone and delete it, they will lose the ability to access the file. If you want to remove the file from your account without deleting it, transfer ownership of the file.

How to Delete Files From Google Drive on Desktop

Follow these steps to delete a file from Google Drive on the your desktop:

1. On your PC, open drive.google.com and locate the file to delete.
2. Click once on the file to select it, then hit the “Delete” icon at the top. The deleted file will be sent to Bin.

3. Alternatively, right-click on the file and select “Remove” from the menu.

How to Delete a File from Google Drive on iPhone and Android

Follow the steps below to delete a file from Google Drive on your mobile device:

1. On a Google Drive mobile app, tap on the “Files” tab at the bottom.

2. Find the file you want to delete and tap on the three dots next to the file.

3. Choose “Remove” from the menu. A confirmation pop-up will appear. Tap on “Move to Trash” to Allow Google Drive to delete the file.

How to Delete Multiple Files in Google Drive

Fortunately, you can also delete multiple files quite easily on Google Drive.

On PC:

1. Select the first file you wish to delete by clicking it.
2. While keeping the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (macOS) key pressed, click on other files to select them.

3. Once selected, click the “Delete” icon at the top.

4. The selected files will be deleted and sent to the Bin folder.

Tip: check out the best Google Drive keyboard shortcuts.

On Android and iPhone:

1. Touch and hold the first file to select it to enable multiple selection mode.
2. Tap on other files to select them.

3. With the required files selected, tap on the three dots at the top and choose “Remove” from the menu.

Tip: learn how to see the total number of files in a Google Drive folder.

How to Delete Files by Size in Google Drive

If you are looking for the biggest files to delete from Google Drive, you can sort the files according to their size.

On PC:

1. Open https://drive.google.com/drive/u/0/quota. You will see all of the files in your Drive arranged in decreasing order of size.

2. Select the file you want to delete and click the Delete icon. You can also delete multiple files as shown above.

On Android and iPhone:

1. In the Google Drive app, go to the “Files” tab.
2. Tap on the “Name” or Last modified/opened option at the top.

3. Select “Storage used” from the menu. Your files and folders will be listed from largest to smallest.

4. Select the required file and delete it by tapping the three dots.

How to Delete Files by Type in Google Drive

If you want to delete files by their type, such as spreadsheet, PDF, etc., you must first find the files through advanced search, as shown below.

1. Open the Google Drive website or mobile app.
2. Tap on the search bar at the top and enter “type:[file type].” For instance, “type:pdf.” All of the PDF files in your Drive will be listed.

3. Select the files that you want to remove and delete them.

How to Delete Google Drive Shared Files

Deleting a shared file owned by someone else will have no impact on your Google Drive storage. It will only remove the file from your view. Â shared file must be deleted by the user who created the file to permanently delete it.

Follow these steps to remove a file that was shared with you from Google Drive.

On PC:

1. Click the “Shared with me” tab in the left sidebar.

2. From the list of files that show up in the lleft panel, select the file by clicking on it, then hit the “Delete” icon at the top to remov the file from your view.

On Android and iPhone:

1. In the Google Drive app, tap on the “Shared” tab at the bottom to view your shared files.

2. Press the three dots next to the file you wish to delete.

3. Select “Remove” from the list.

How to Delete Orphaned Files from Google Drive

A file that has lost its parent folder is referred to as an orphaned file in Google Drive. It’s hard to find them – yet not impossible. Follow these steps to delete orphaned files:

1. On the Google Drive website, enter “is:unorganized owner:me” in the search field of Google Drive on mobile or PC. That will show any and all orphaned files.

2. Delete them as you would delete other files.

How to Delete Files From Google Drive Permanently

As mentioned, any file that you delete will go to the Trash folder first. It will stay for 30 days until it is deleted automatically. To delete files permanently from Google Drive before 30 days, you need to remove them from the Trash or Bin folder as shown below:

On PC:

1. Click on the “Bin” folder in the left sidebar of the Google Drive website.

2. To delete all the files from the Trash, click on the “Empty Bin” button at the top.

3. Alternatively, click on the file that you want to delete and hit the “Delete” button.

Pro Tip: if you want to recover the deleted file, click on the Restore icon next to the Delete icon.

On the Google Drive Android or iPhone app:

1. Tap on the three bars at the top and select “Trash” from the list to find all of the deleted files.

2. Tap on the three dots at the top and select “Empty trash” to delete all files at once.

3. To delete a file, press the three dots next to it and select “Delete forever.”

Tip: Check out the best tips to use Google Drive.

Frequently Asked Questions

What takes up storage in Google Drive?

Almost everything you put in Google Drive will take up space, including PDF files, videos, images, and the newly created Google Drive services files, such as Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, and Drawings. Previously, Google Drive component files weren’t counted against the storage, but that changed in June 2021. Apart from that, even the items in the Google Drive Trash folder count toward the Drive storage. Find out how to free up storage space in Google Drive.

Please note that your Google storage is shared across Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. If you are getting a notification that your Google One storage is full, Google Drive is just one of the components to blame.

If a Google Drive file is deleted on a computer, will it be removed from mobile as well?

Yes, as the files are in constant sync with each other. Deleting them on one platform will delete them from the other platforms too.

Can I delete files from PC or mobile after uploading to Google Drive?

Yes, you can remove the files from your phone or desktop’s storage if you have already added them to Google Drive. This allows you to save space on your personal device.

Are Google Drive Bin and Trash the same?

Yes. Both refer to the same thing.

Do Google Photos take up storage on Google Drive?

No. Google Photos do not take up storage on Drive. However, both take up the overall storage of your Google account.

All images and screenshots by Mehvish Mushtaq.