latest
Files by Google's latest trick helps save you from yourself
You could just not accidentally delete files in the first place, but this is an acceptable alternative
The imaginatively named Files by Google app has come a long way since its debut as Files Go in 2017. Google has steadily added additional features and functionality, and the app became the default file manager in Android 11 earlier this year. Now it's starting to pick up another new feature — one that will save you from losing important files if you accidentally hit the delete button.
Last year, Android 11 picked up a "hidden" feature straight out of the 90s: A "trash can" for deleted files. At the time, trashed files weren't actually user-manageable. Apps could mark items for deletion (they'd bite the dust 30 days later) and offer their own ways to restore them, but it wasn't the sort of centralized "trash can" or "recycle bin" for actually deleted files we're used to from other platforms. But based on a recent report, that could change in Android 12.
The Chrome OS file manager will soon get a trash can
Users will get a second chance to restore deleted files
Read update
The unthinkable happened: You just deleted the wrong file by accident, and it happened to be a school essay that you spent days working on. If you didn't save a backup of the document on your Chromebook, unfortunately, there is nothing you can do to get that file back. With Windows, the Recycle Bin gives us a second chance to restore a file or folder you deleted from the file manager, but with a Chromebook, the files are permanently erased from your device. It sure looks like the developers at Google have become sympathetic to us accidental-deleters, and are working on a way to bring back recently deleted files.