How to Clear Storage on Google Drive

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Google Drive has proven over time to be one of the safest and most secure places to store and easily access our files anytime at anywhere. Files that are stored on Google Drive are well protected even when the phone or PC spoils or formats.

Google drives give 15GB of free space to its user. The 15GB space is not only used to store google files but also shared with Gmail and Google Drive photos. 

However, if you exhaust the 15GB of free space on your Google Drive you can upgrade by buying space on Google Drive which will cost you some money or you can simply delete some unnecessary or unused files to free up some space on your Google Drive.

How to Clear Storage on Google Drive
How to Clear Storage on Google Drive

The following are some steps to clear your Google Drive storage.

How to Clear Storage on Google Drive using Android

Clearing files from Google Drive with an Android phone is very much easy and it involves the following steps.

  • Open your Google Drive app and sign in with your Google account.
  • Click on ‘files’ at the bottom right.
  • Long press a file to make a selection of other files you want to remove and click on the three dots at the top right.
  • Select ‘remove’.
  • Click on ‘move to bin’.

Note” Files moved to bin stays up to 30 days and can also be accessed before it deletes permanently. Therefore, to delete files immediately from Google Drive using an Android, follow the following simple step-by-step instructions.

  • Click on the three horizontal lines at the top left.
  • A menu will appear, then select ‘bin’.
  • Select files which have been moved to ‘bin’ you want to delete permanently.
  • Click on ‘delete forever’.

That’s it, your files have been deleted and your storage space on Google Drive has been cleared.

Check out, How to Sync Google Drive with Windows 10

How to Clear Storage on Google Drive using a Desktop

To clear up storage on Google Drive using a desktop involves the following simple steps which are;

  • On your computer, go to Google Drive and sign in with your Google account.
  • Click on the ‘setting’ icon at the top right.
  • Select ‘setting’ from the drop-down menu that will appear.
  • Click on ‘view items taking up storage’.
  • You will see a list of all the documents taking up space, then highlight the ones you want to remove and click on remove.

Done, your files have been successfully removed and your storage space on Google Drive cleared.

Read How to Save an Email to Google Drive

How to Clear Storage on Google Drive using an iPhone

iPhone is considered one of the most popular and powerful smartphones with its ample features designed and marketed by Apple inc. Google Drive can easily be used on iPhone to store and access all sorts of files.

Sometimes, the files stored on iPhone Google Drive may be unuseful thereby occupying space that should have been used to store a more useful or important file.

The following step-by-step instructions involve how to clear storage using an iPhone. 

  • Open your Google drive app on your iPhone and sign in with your Google account.
  • Select the ‘files’ icon at the bottom right.
  • Long press on a file to make the selection of other files you want to remove.
  • Click on the three dots at the right top and select ‘remove’.
  • Select ‘remove’ to move files to the trash.

 To permanently delete files immediately on Google Drive involves the following steps.

  • Tap on the three horizontal lines at the top left.
  • Click on ‘bin’.
  • Select from the files that were moved to ‘bin’ you want to delete permanently and select ‘delete forever’.

It’s done, your storage has been successfully cleared of unwanted or unuseful files.

Read How to Save Word Docs to Google Drive

How to Clear Storage on Google Drive using a MacBook

MacBook is a powerful Macintosh computer designed by Apple inc. It also supports the use of Google Drive for storing and accessing all sorts of files.

Here are steps on how to clear google storage using a MacBook.

  • On your computer, open your Google Drive app or navigate to the Google Drive website; https://drive.google.com and sign in with your Google account.
  • Select files you want to delete
  • Select or drag files to ‘trash’.
  • Click on the ‘trash’ icon.
  • Select files in the trash you want to permanently delete.
  • Click on ‘delete forever’.

Read How to upload files to Google Drive from PC and Smartphones

How to Clear Storage on Google Drive using an iPad

IPad and iPhone are quite similar because they both operate on the same operating system, therefore, the steps or instructions followed to clear storage on Google Drive using iPad are the same as iPhone simple and easy.

Here are a few useful step-by-step instructions you can follow to clear your storage on Google Drive.

  • Open your Google Drive on your iPad and sign in with your Google account. 
  • Click on the  ‘files’ icon at the bottom left.
  • Long press on a file to make a selection of other files you want to remove.
  • Click on the three vertical dots at the top right and select ‘remove’.
  • Select ‘remove’ to move files to the bin.

Note: files moved to bin stay for some time and can also be accessed before it is permanently deleted. To permanently delete files from Google Drive storage you may follow the following steps.

  • Tap on the three horizontal lines at the top left.
  • Click on ‘bin’.
  • Select from the files that were moved to the bin you want to delete
  • Then click on ‘delete forever’.

Done, your unwanted or unuseful files have been deleted freeing up some space on your Google Drive storage for more important files to be stored.

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