Embedded Files
Would you know what happens when you delete folders? If others can delete your work and how shared drives work differently? Let's get you equipped so you can use Drive with more confidence.
Let's get our terms straight
Let's get our terms straight
Trashing
Trashing
Moving a file into trash, from where it will get deleted forever.
Golden rules of Google Drive:
Only a file's owner can trash a file.
There can only ever be one owner.
Unlink
Unlink
Taking a file out of its folder.
Every file must be somewhere. Unlinking places it placed in it's owner's My Drive (the root folder). Devolution, baby!
Removing
Removing
Fuzzy word meaning either trashing or unlinking. Google is, unfortunately, not specific in the interface, so we will avoid the term here.
Deleting single files (My Drive)
Deleting single files (My Drive)
I think we are ready to see what happens. Let's start "removing" together - I promise, no file will get hurt in the process.
YOUR files, in My Drive, can be trashed
YOUR files, in My Drive, can be trashed
You are the master of everything you store in My Drive and can trash it as you please - it goes into trash, where it will stay for 30 days (you can empty or restore it before).
A trashed file is immediately made inaccessible to everyone.
Nerdy details: When you trash something, the file gets tagged as "trashed" and will only appear in Drive's trash. It will no longer appear in folder it was in. When people search for this file, an indication "Files in trash match your search, would you like to display them?" appears.
OTHER PEOPLE'S files, in My Drive, can be unlinked
OTHER PEOPLE'S files, in My Drive, can be unlinked
You may come across a file that someone else owns:
Someone shared a file with you.
Although right-clicking will say "delete", you will just unlink the file.Someone shared a folder with you, containing files.
This is the most complex case, so please bear with me: If you have editor rights to a folder, it means they trust you enough to mess with it. You will be able to add and remove files. HOWEVER, that does not mean it that you can trash files - only the owner can trash files, and you are not the owner.
Again, you will just unlink files.
OTHER PEOPLE's files, in YOUR FOLDERS, in My Drive, can be unlinked
OTHER PEOPLE's files, in YOUR FOLDERS, in My Drive, can be unlinked
This tests if you have understood everything before! You have every right to trash your folders (trashing everything in it), but you do not have the right to trash other people's files that may be in those folders.
When that happens, the other people's files are still accessible (they are not trashed!), but they are hard to reach because the folder is trashed. You can find and open the file via their links, Cloud Search, the editors' home screens (Docs/Sheets/Slides), or Drive's Recent/Starred/Search views.
To end that hostage situation, go into trash and either undo the folder trashing or delete it forever. Deleting it will unlink other people's files and folders, returning them to their rightful owners' My Drive, because my folder is now gone.
You could also work with your team to move the content to a shared drive. Since each file owner needs to do that for themselves, this might involve some work, but is the best solution in the long term.
Clicking the file will work - it was not my file, so I'm not allowed to trash it. But clicking my trashed folder will not work.
Shared drives: Files and folders can be trashed
Shared drives: Files and folders can be trashed
Shared drives are much simpler than My Drive. First, the shared drive owns all its contents, so you can trash whatever you like. Content manager rights are required to trash files, Manager rights are required to trash folders. Second, shared drives have their own trash - they are truly self-contained. That trash also expires after 30 days, but can be emptied manually.
And in case you wondered - a Manager cannot delete an entire shared drive without trashing all its content first, a very clever design choice.
Shortcuts can be trashed
Shortcuts can be trashed
Shortcuts are also simple. A shortcut is a small file, exactly like in Windows/Mac. If you have editing rights to the folder the shortcut is in, you can trash the shortcut. Shortcuts are special in that they do not establish access rights - you can hoard shortcuts to files that you do not have access to. So, this will not change access rights to the file/folder the shortcut pointed to. You never need to worry about removing shortcuts.
Creating content is as important as controlling who accesses it, and as important as properly disposing of it. This post was comprehensive because it went into the edge cases - I hope it was not overwhelming. A few principles go a long way of understanding how Drive works. Congratulations on mastering it, and thanks for reading!
#drivePublished 2021-01-12 by Holger Matthies.Modified 2021-01-12 by Holger Matthies.
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