While it is essential to do basic settings of recycle bin before you delete anything because no one likes to delete the files they need accidentally. Fortunately, operating system and cloud storage services come with built-in delete options.
If you have somehow deleted this critical report of the company that will be on Wednesday, or you have inadvertently deleted every single picture of Grandma that you have ever taken, don’t worry.
Non-deletion options can get you out of a real hole, so it’s worth taking the time to make sure they’re set up perfectly. This includes how long the platform keeps files before permanently deleting them, and how much space they are allowed to take.
How to configure your recycle bin on Windows:
People always have some files which are very important for them. For Researchers, the only thing that matters them is their research and the research papers they have written. You should always be able to see the Recycle Bin on your Windows desktop – if you don’t right-click on an empty desktop and select the View and Show desktop icon. If it still doesn’t exist, open Windows Settings and select Personalization, Themes, and Desktop Icon Settings. When the Recycle Bin icon appears on the desktop, right-click on it and selects Properties to see how it works.
On this menu, you can set how much space the Recycle Bin content takes up on your disk; by default, as soon as this space is filled, the oldest files there will be cleared. If you want to get rid of something immediately, you can also manually clean the files by right-clicking on the Recycle Bin and selecting the Empty Recycle Bin. You can also skip this folder altogether and permanently delete Windows as soon as you delete them from this menu.
If you do not want to rely on location, you can set a time limit. To do this, open Settings and select System Sense Storage Sense: Turn on Automatic User Content Cleanup and set your time limit for recycling (one to 60 days) via the drop-down list below.
How to configure Trash folder on macOS:
MacOS uses the trash folder instead of the recycle bin, but the idea is the same: deleted files go there, and you can retrieve them if you need to. It is good to do some Recycle bin settings before you delete your files.
To delete them permanently, you must manually empty the trash in macOS mail by right-clicking on its icon and selecting Empty Trash.
If this is something you don’t want to do regularly, and you get back to disk space, open Finder and select Preferences from the Finder menu. Under the Advanced heading, check the box labelled Remove Items from Trash after 30 days.
If you believe that you will never accidentally delete something important or have a robust backup solution, you can leave the trash altogether. With the selected files, use the Option + Cmd + Delete keyboard shortcut or hold down the Option key and select File, Delete immediately from the Finder menu.
How to adapt deletion settings on Dropbox:
Those who have received your files from Dropbox and synced in the cloud can retrieve deleted files for up to 30 days. Dropbox also has the recycle bin settings to save your files from accidentally deleting. If you are paying for professional, standard or advanced plans with additional storage, the files will wait 180 days before being deleted and not be included in your storage quota.
Unfortunately, there are no configuration settings here, and if you want deleted files to last longer, you will just need to upgrade your Dropbox plan. The Plus and Family packages, which start at $ 10 per month, have the same 30-day window for deleted files as free plans do.
To recover your records or files after they have been delete:
- Log in to Dropbox on the Web, and click Deleted Files on the left.
- Select one or more files, and you will have the option to restore or delete on the right permanently.
- Note that it works independently of Recycle Bin on Windows and Trash on macOS.
How to sync deletion settings on OneDrive:
OneDrive is a synchronization and cloud storage service built into Windows and has its non-deleted feature that works differently from the operating system’s recycle bin. Vaguely, it is also called Recycle Bin, and the files will remain there for 30 days until they are permanently cleared.
Any files you delete from synced folders in OneDrive will go to the Cloud Recycle Bin, where they get a second life, even if you permanently remove them from the local recycle bin in Windows. To retrieve them, log in to OneDrive on the web, and click the Recycle bin on the left. You can choose to delete or restore files permanently, but you also have bulk action options at the top of the window.
OneDrive does not allow changing the 30-day window or adjusting how much space the Recycle Bin can use. You should also note that, unlike Dropbox, files waiting to be permanently deleted are counted in your allocated storage. To see how much room they’re using, go to OneDrive on the web, click the cog icon (top right) and then manage the storage. There you will also see the option to empty the recycle bin.
How to sync deletion settings on iCloud:
As with OneDrive and Windows Recycle Bin, the iCloud file system has its feature of retrieving deleted files, and it works independently from the Trash folder on your Mac. Deleted files are cleared automatically and permanently after 30 days, but the good news is that when they are hung, they are not counted in your iCloud storage.
You cannot change the time period before the final deletion, nor can you change the amount of cloud storage iCloud storage for deleted files. It doesn’t matter how much you spend on iCloud storage service – the settings are the same whether you’re using 5GB of free space or you’ve upgraded.
How to sync deletion settings on Google Drive:
If Google Drive is the cloud storage service of your choice, you will get 30 days after deleting files to decide if you want to bring them back. To view deleted files that have not been permanently cleared, go to Google Drive on the web, and click the Trash link on the left.
Note that the deleted files you find there are counted in your storage allowance, so you may want to empty this folder frequently. To permanently delete files or restore them to their original folder, right-click on the files (Ctrl + click to select multiple files at once) and select what you want to do. You’ll also see an empty trash can button in the top right corner, which you can use to quickly remove the digital trash.
Google Drive does not provide any settings for editing the time spent in the trash, limiting its size, or dropping the trash folder altogether. These are also settings for all users, whether you’re riding a free 15GB Google Drive Piggyback, or you’ve upgraded to a paid plan. Google Drive does not allow recycling bin settings (empty trash) in free project.