8 Best Ways to Fix Google Drive Storage Full But No Files in It Issue

We are still worried about filling the space available in cloud storage services, as they usually offer limited storage. We try to manage the space as much as possible. But what if you receive a random notification that your Google Drive is full? You may be wondering why Google Drive says it’s full. Let’s find the answer and how to fix it in this article.

The full Google Drive notification would have been correct if it was actually full. Although some users receive a notification when Google Drive is empty, the Google Drive space is not updated even after the data has been deleted for others. So what’s going on? What hidden data is not visible to you?

Let’s see different ways to fix Google Drive issues, but there are no files there.

1. Check the storage space available in the Google account

Google Drive storage is part of the overall storage for your Google Account. So you need to check which Google product is using storage. Read our detailed article on what matters in Google Drive storage.

For this article, it is important to mention the basics. Google storage covers space for Google Drive, Gmail, and Google Photos. You can check the available storage at https://one.google.com/storage.

If Google Drive has less storage than the others, you need to free up space using the other two. For Gmail, you can delete attachments. In the case of Google Photos, you can convert the photos to high quality. Then they will not occupy storage.

If Google Drive uses more storage space, check the following methods.

2. Check the storage taken by Google Drive files

Some files may still be available on Google Drive. To check all available files, open https://drive.google.com/drive/quota using a browser on your phone or on the web. Press the Storage used option to change the sort order from large to small. If some large files are still visible, delete them.

You should also check the files at https://drive.google.com/drive/computers. Here you will find the files that have been backed up from your computer. Delete them if you don’t need them. However, note that if you always synchronize them with the computer, they will also be deleted from your PC.

3. Delete orphaned files

Sometimes when you delete a folder from Google Drive, the files in it are not deleted. These files are called orphan files. They are not visible directly in Drive. You can consult them by searching for the keyword “is: unorganized owner: me”. If files appear, delete them if they are not necessary or move them to a folder to make them visible.

Point: On the web, you can delete files by dragging them to the Trash folder.

4. Delete hidden application data

If you use Google Drive to back up data from third-party apps, that data will also take storage. To display this hidden data, follow these steps:

Step 1: Open drive.google.com from a browser.

2nd step: Click the settings icon at the top and select Settings.

Step 3: In the pop-up window that opens, click Manage Applications on the left side. Scroll down and you will see the data absorbed by the applications. Click Options next to the application and select Delete hidden application data if you no longer need the data.

Point: Learn how to remove connected apps from Google Drive.

5. Empty the trash

When you delete files from Google Drive, they are not permanently deleted. They are placed in the Trash or Trash folder where they remain until you manually empty your trash. So if Google Drive is full, you need to empty the bin to clear the storage.

Empty Google Drive Trash on the Web

Open the Google Drive website. Click the Bin option in the left sidebar. Click on the Bin drop-down list at the top and select Empty Bin. Refresh the page and check the available storage.

Empty trash from Google Drive on Android

Open the Drive app. Tap the three-bar icon at the top and select Trash.

Then select all files. Tap the three-dot icon at the top and select Delete forever. Restart your phone.

Empty trash from Google Drive on iOS

On iOS, tap the three bar icon at the top in the Drive app and select Bin. Then press the three-dot icon at the top and choose Empty bin. Restart your phone.

6. Logout

If, after emptying the trash, Google Drive still does not free up storage space, you must sign out. Then reconnect.

7. Clear cache on Android

If you’re checking available storage from an Android phone, clear the Drive app cache. Clearing the cache will not delete the files as it is different from clearing the data.

To clear the Google Drive cache, open Settings on your phone and go to Apps & Notifications or Installed Apps. Look for Google Drive under All apps. Tap Storage in Google Drive. Finally, tap Clear cache. Restart your phone.

Point: You must also empty the Google Drive Web cache.

8. Check on another device

A great way to make sure Google has updated the storage is to check on another device. If you’ve deleted files from a phone, check the web and vice versa.

Be patient

The key to success is to have patience. If you’ve deleted a large number of files from Google Drive, you should wait at least 24 hours after trying the above steps before panicking. Hopefully the updated storage would reflect then, and you won’t get the storage is a complete error on Google Drive.