Google Photos cuts trash recovery window from 60 to 30 days
The company is standardizing its deletion policy across Google Photos, Drive, and Gmail, leaving users with less time to recover accidentally deleted media.
Google has reduced the amount of time backed-up photos and videos remain in the trash bin before they are permanently deleted. The recovery window for this media has been cut from 60 days to 30 days.
According to reporting from Android Police, the change means that any media backed up to the cloud will now be purged from the bin twice as fast as before. Items that were never backed up to Google's servers already operated on a 30-day recovery window; now, all binned media follow this unified rule. Users should also note that manual deletion from the trash results in immediate, non-recoverable removal of the files.
Standardizing the Ecosystem
Previously, Google Photos offered a more generous grace period for backed-up content compared to other services within the Google Workspace. While Photos users enjoyed two months to reverse a deletion, users of Google Drive and Gmail were limited to a 30-day window. This update effectively standardizes the deletion timeline across the entire Google ecosystem, bringing the photo service in line with the company's other primary storage and communication tools.
Increased Risk of Data Loss
This policy shift significantly impacts users who rely on the bin as a safety net for accidental deletions. By halving the recovery period, Google has reduced the time available for a user to realize a mistake and retrieve their media. This is particularly risky during bulk cleanups, where a user might delete hundreds of files at once and not notice a missing memory until well after the new 30-day threshold has passed, leading to permanent data loss.
What to Watch
While Google's official support documentation now explicitly reflects the 30-day window, the company has not issued a formal public announcement regarding the transition. It remains to be seen if Google will provide more prominent in-app notifications to warn users about the shortened window, or if the change will remain a quiet update to the terms of service. Users are encouraged to double-check their trash bins more frequently to avoid losing irreplaceable media.