Phew! Google Rolls Out A Fix To Restore Missing Drive Files

A recent glitch in the desktop Google Drive app caused some files to disappear from users' cloud storage containers. It's been a few weeks of Google asking for patience, but it has now released a fix. Assuming affected individuals followed Google's recommendations, it should be possible to restore the missing files now.

This issue first cropped up around the middle of November. We don't know how commonly files went missing, but Google says only a "small subset" of users were affected by the bug in version 84 of the app. The new update, version 85.0.13.0, has addressed the problem so no more files will vanish, and there's a way to manually restore missing files. Well, maybe. 

After updating the Google Drive app, you can find the hidden recovery feature by holding shift and clicking on the settings icon. Then, click "Recover from backups," and cross your fingers. You will see either "Recovery has started" or "No backups found." When acknowledging this issue, Google suggested that affected individuals don't attempt to fix the problem by logging out or uninstalling the Drive app. Doing so would remove the app data and permanently delete the missing files. Google even suggested backing up the Drive file system folder.

If the Drive app is able to recover your files, they will be added to a new "Google Drive Recovery" folder. The Drive app will alert you if there isn't enough disk space, giving you the chance to make room for the recovered files. And it could be a lot of data—some affected users claimed they lost files going back four years.

If Google's recovery method doesn't find your missing files, you can submit a support request through the app. Use the #DFD84 tag to help identify the issue, but it's unclear what else Google could do. If the local cache in the app has been deleted or corrupted, there may not be any route to restoring those files. Hopefully, the users stuck in that situation will be minimal, but let this whole incident be a reminder to have backups. Cloud storage is great, but if that's your only copy of a file, it's not a backup.