How to Delete Files from Google Drive on Mac

Do you want to learn how to delete files from Google Drive on a mac and an iOS device? If yes, you have landed on the right webpage. In today’s article, I am going to share detailed methods of how you can do that.

So, without any further ado, let’s get started –

How to Delete Files from Google Drive

Google Drive offers 15 GB of cloud storage to free users, which is really great if we compare it with other cloud storage platforms such as Dropbox, OneDrive, pCloud, Box, and others. However, the problem here is that this 15 GB of storage limit includes storage of your Google Photos, Gmail, and other Google products.

It means that even if you don’t upload files on your Google Drive, your storage may get full sooner than you expected. However, to ensure that you will have ample storage, you can delete some files from Google Drive that are no longer in use for you.

Below, we have provided detailed guides on how to delete files and empty the Trash bin in Google Drive on Mac and iOS devices.

So, here we go –

How to Delete Files from Google Drive on Mac

The process to delete files from Google Drive on Mac is quite simple and easy. All you need to do is follow these simple steps –

• First of all, go to drive.google.com.
• Log in using your Google account credentials.
• Now, navigate to the folder where you have files that you want to delete.
• Select the files that you want to delete. You can press CTRL while clicking on files to select multiple files.
• Right-click on the selected file.

• Click on the Remove icon.

That’s it. Now, the file has been sent to the Google Drive Trash bin. Once you remove a file from your Google Drive, it stays in the Trash bin for 30 days before getting deleted permanently. Within these 30 days, you can recover those files if you want.

Now, if you are the owner of the file and you have shared it with other people, they will be able to make a copy of the file within these 30 days. Therefore, if you want to completely remove the files from Google Drive, you have to delete them from the Trash.

Here is how you can do that –

Read How to Move Multiple Files in Google Drive

How to Delete Files from your Trash on Mac

When you have any file that you own in your Trash, you get a few choices. For example, if you own that file and have shared it with someone else, you can transfer the ownership of that file to them. Other than that, you get the option to delete those files forever or recover them.

To delete files from your Trash, all you have to do is follow these simple steps –

• First of all, go to drive.google.com.
• Log in using your Google account credentials.
• From the left sidebar, click on the Trash option.

• Here, you will see all of the files that you removed from your Google Drive in the last 30 days. Select the files that you want to delete forever.

• Now, right-click on any selected files and click on the Delete Forever option.

That’s it. This is how you can easily delete any file from the Google Drive Trash, but what if you want to empty your entire Trash bin? Well, you can do that too. All you need to do is follow these simple steps –

• Go to drive.google.com.
• Click on the Trash option from the left sidebar.
• Here, at the top of your screen, you will see a message saying, “Items in the trash are deleted forever after 30 days.” Right beside it, you will see the Empty Trash option. Click on it.
• A pop-up will appear for the confirmation. Click on the Delete Forever button, and it will empty your entire Trash bin within a second.

That’s it. This is how you can easily delete files and empty your Trash bin from Google Drive on Mac.

Read How to Stop Google Drive from Duplicating Files

How to Delete Files from Google Drive on iPhone

Now, what if you don’t have access to your Mac PC or laptop? Well, if that is the situation, you can also delete your Google Drive files using your iOS smartphone.

The process of deleting files from Google Drive on an iPhone or other iOS device is as mentioned below –

• Make sure that the Google Drive iOS application is installed on your smartphone. You can download it from the Apple iOS store.
• Once the Google Drive application is installed, launch it and log in using your Google account credentials.
• Navigate to the folder where you have the file that you want to delete.
• Next to the file, you will see the three-dot icon. Tap on it.

• An options menu will appear. At the bottom of the options menu, you will see the Remove option. Tap on it.

Doing this will remove the file from your Google Drive storage. However, as we said earlier, the file stays for 30 days in the Trash bin even after removing it from Google Drive, meaning that if you want to delete that file forever, you have to delete it from the Trash bin too.

Here is how you can delete a file from the Google Drive Trash bin on an iPhone device.

Read How to Get Google Drive Notification when a File is Added to the Folder

How to Delete Files from your Google Drive Trash on an iPhone device

• Launch the Google Drive application on your smartphone.
• At the top left corner, you will see a Hamburger (Three horizontal lines) icon. Tap on it.
• Tap on the Bin option.
• Here you have to select the files that you want to delete forever.
• Now, tap on the three-dot icon next to the file you want to delete.
• Tap on the Delete Forever option.

That’s it. This is how you can easily delete files from your Google Drive Trash on an iPhone. You can also delete all your Trash files by following these simple steps –

• At the top right corner, you will see a three-dot icon. Tap on it.
• Tap on the Empty Bin option.

That’s it. Doing this will delete all the trash files from your Google Drive.

Read How to Stop Receiving Shared Files on Google Drive

Closing Comments

There you have it – a detailed guide on how to delete files from Google Drive on Mac and iPhone.

I hope this article has helped you delete files from your Google Drive on iOS and Mac devices. Most of the time, all you have to do is remove the file from your Google Drive storage to delete them, as Google Drive automatically deletes Trash files after 30 days.

However, if your Google Drive storage is full, in that scenario, you need to empty Trash. The good thing is that it is quite simple and easy to do.

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