Re: Google Drive: "Deleted" files not really gone

[Howard Snart]

I have this problem with the latest drive sdk.

The delete does work; the file is deleted. But it is still visible in the drive UI, leading to lots of problems for the user if they try and do something with it. 

Suggestions of un-parenting it before the delete do work in removing it from the UI. BUT i have to sleep() between the un-parent and the delete; otherwise the file again remains in the UI.

So not ideal. 

The other docslist api is being deprecated; so i would much rather use the drive sdk.

Any help much appreciated. 

Howard. 

[Paul Davis]

Well, I am replying to this two years later, and it still doesn't work for me.  I have deleted all the files in the Google Drive folder, and I have shut off the Google Drive app, but the usage indicator in gmail still indicates that I am using exactly the same amount of data as when I had the maximum ever.  It's not critical, because the amount is still a fraction of my allocation, but just for security purposes it would be nice to know the data was no longer on the google server.

On Sunday, September 23, 2012 12:59:15 PM UTC-7, Anders wrote:

I have been implementing the new Google Drive API, and it seems to work as advertised. Deleted files will be trashed and not "orphaned".

The next version should be out soon, just need to do a little more testing...

Best regards

Anders Carlsen

Software Developer

If you like our apps, please give them a 5-star rating. Thanks. :-)

 

Tacit Dynamics

www.tacit.dk - Android Market - Support

[JNavas]

Open Drive in your browser of choice, and empty the Trash.

[JNavas]

[JNavas]

Gmail usage is separate from Drive usage, so isn't related to FS. You'll have to get rid of something in Gmail.

[Thomas Kyle]

I have 1 way sync to GD that uploads my app backups and I have deletion sync enabled; I only keep the latest backup on my phone so the older ones should be deleted from Google drive.

The behavior looks correct if i check the log and I can verify the older files are no longer in the synced Drive folder as expected.

However,if I search drive for files that match those "deleted" (by extension usually),my results include those older deleted files. Using the "organize" link to move them indicates they are in no folders, and are "not in your drive". However, I can open and view their content,and worse, they still take up space unless I delete them manually to the GD trash can. (I verified in the settings screen, manually deleting the phantom files fees space)

I sync ~400mb of apps this way weekly , and with all the FolderSync "deletions" going phantom, my 5gb is filling up fast.

[fsbaud]

Google drive moves files to the Trash folder when you (or FolderSync) delete them. If you want to delete them permanently, go to the Trash folder and click the "Empty Trash" button. 

[Thomas Kyle]

But it isn't doing that, my trash folder was empty, my files are just orphaned and unfoldered.

When I found them on search,I could check them off and delete them, and that moves them to the trash. (And on search, items in the trash are labeled as such. Mine had no location at all)

[fsbaud]

Sorry, then, I don't know. I have a gdrive sync job and it doesn't do that.

[Thomas Kyle]

My sync is very simple, just a one way to remote folder. I'm not sure what could be causing it, I assume it's a unique bug otherwise people would be seeing their space get eaten up too

[sefyk]

I have exactly the same problem. Did you find any solution?

[Jake Di Toro]

I'm having a similar problem.

I have a 2 way sync setup on my tablet.  When I "delete" the files locally on the next sync it's recognized and listed in the "DeletedRemoteFile" listing on the sync status.

How I found out about this is because I'm using InSync on my computer to keep my drive synced, the files I deleted would show up in my root folder of the sync point.  Since my root folder is usually populated only by other folders these kind of stood out.

So I agree, it seems that FolderSync is not deleting the file itself, just any collection associated with the file.

[Support User]

Hmm, the way Foldersync works is, that it trashes the old file, and uploads a new one. Why the old file is not in the trash folder I don't know, but that it is no longer present in the folder it was previously in means that the delete command does something at least.

It is possible to fully delete the old file, but the trash feature should work.

[sefyk]

Where is this trash feature?

[Anders]

It is not a feature in foldersync, but how the Google Drive API works (unless you tell it to permanently delete the old file, which is currently not what FolderSync does). 

[sefyk]

So what's the solution to this problem? Currently, Foldersync leaves deleted files as ghosts (which cannot be deleted even from Trash), and the drive space is taken by these files.

[Support User]

There seems to be others that have similar issues:  http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11909709/documents-deleted-using-google-docs-api-still-visible-in-google-drive

I will try, in the next version, to permanently delete the file without trashing to see if it makes a difference for the users with this problem.

[Helge]

Thanks Anders - that would be awesome!

I'm experiencing the exact same problem, as you probably guessed :-)

The way it behaves, I think it looks more like a bug in Google Drive itself.

Cheers.

[cykotix]

I'm having the same issue. I was trying to figure out how I had hit my quota but only having a fraction of the files show up. It wasn't until I selected all files did I see these "rogue" files. It was almost like instead of "trashing" them it was simply removing the labels they originally had. Cleaning up these files is very tedious, so a fix sooner rather than later would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Support User]

I think this could perhaps also have to do with revisions - they might under some circumstance take up quota storage if enabled.

The thing is - when foldersync uploads a new version of an existing file it actually doesn't delete it the old version, it just updates the existing binary data in docs/drive.

The orphaned version of the file may be the old revision. I could easily enable a full deletions of the old file, but that would break revision history for that item, which is unfortunate.

Anyway, there is a new Drive API now (right now the older Docs API is being used), and I will be implementing that in the future, so hopefully that will solve the issue.

[cykotix]

This may be true in some cases, but I think it only does revisions on "office" files.  In my case, it's not removing tgz files created by Titanium Backup.  I do nightly syncs of my "sdcard" (Galaxy Nexus), which subsequently sync my TiBu files that I recreate every night.  For all purposes of this example, they are essentially new files anyway, taking revision out of the equation.  To make matters even more interesting, there doesn't appear to be a pattern as to which files are orphaned.  I've attached a screenshot to help illustrate.

Thanks!

[Support User]

I have come to think it might be a bug in Google Docs/Drive. I am pretty sure FolderSync does everything as the API proscribes.

But as I said, I am hoping using the new API will solve the problem.

[cykotix]

Sounds good.  If you'd like me to see if it fixes it once you've gotten time to update the API, just let me know.  Thanks again for your help.  Foldersync is an absolute life saver!

[Support User]

I have been implementing the new Google Drive API, and it seems to work as advertised. Deleted files will be trashed and not "orphaned".

The next version should be out soon, just need to do a little more testing...

[cykotix]

Outstanding!  Thanks again for the update and the quick response!  Let me know if you want some additional testing.