Google rolls out a lifeline for Drive users with lost files

A hot potato: For those who’ve faced the nightmare of disappearing files on Google Drive, the company has rolled out a new recovery tool that offers a glimmer of hope. This update is crucial not just for recovering data but also for bringing back user trust in Google’s cloud storage service.

Cloud storage can be as essential as the devices we use, so losing files on an otherwise trusted platform like Google Drive can be catastrophic. Recognizing the severity of the issue, Google has released an update for the Drive desktop app, aimed at recovering files that vanished due to a recent sync problem.

First reported in late November, the issue affected a “small subset” of Google Drive desktop users, leading to the loss of months’ worth, and in some cases, years of data. The culprit was identified as a sync bug in versions 84.0.0.0 to 84.0.4.0 of the Google Drive for desktop app.

Google hopes to solve this with the latest version of the app (85.0.13.0 or higher), which introduces a file recovery tool. The process, while not straightforward, involves a few steps:

• Access the Drive icon in the menu bar or system tray.
• Holding the “Shift” key, click “Settings,” and select “Recover from backups.”
• If successful, a notification stating “Recovery has started” appears.

The recovered files are placed in a new folder named “Google Drive Recovery” on the user’s desktop.

It’s unclear if this will fully alleviate customers’ worries, though, as even Google cautions that this method may not work for everyone, particularly for those who signed out of their Drive app or modified the app’s data folder. For users still encountering issues, Google advises submitting feedback through the Drive app with the hashtag ‘#DFD84’ and including diagnostic logs.

Meanwhile, the damage to Google’s cloud service reputation is already done. The first report of the problem was made on November 22, but it took Google until December 5 to release a solution. This means that affected users have been without their data for several days. If anything, this incident serves as a stark reminder of the importance of local data redundancy for safeguarding critical information.