Recovering a deleted user or files

How to recover a deleted Google Workspace user account or restore files deleted from Google Drive — time limits and step-by-step instructions.

Mistakes happen. If you accidentally delete a user account or lose important files, Google Workspace gives you a window to recover them — but you need to act quickly.

Quick summary

A deleted user account can be restored for 20 days, by a super admin. Files a user puts in their Drive trash stay there for 30 days, and they can restore them themselves. Once the trash is emptied, an admin still has 25 days to restore a whole date range of files from the Admin console. Act fast: after those windows the data is gone.

Recovering a deleted user account

If you deleted a user account and need to restore it, you have to be signed in as a super administrator.

Go to admin.google.com and sign in with your super admin account.

Go to Menu → Directory → Users.

Click More options, then Recently deleted users.

Point at the user you want to restore and click Recover.

Review the confirmation notice and click Continue, pick an organisational unit to put the user in, then click Recover again.

Google says the change usually takes effect within 24 hours, though in rare cases it can take up to five days. You also need a spare licence for the edition the person had — without one, the restore won't go through.

20-day window — don't wait

You have 20 days from deletion to recover a user account. In Google's words: "After 20 days, the data is gone and you can't restore it."

What gets recovered

When you recover a deleted user account, they get access to their previous services and data again. Google names their Gmail content, the Drive files they owned that weren't already transferred to someone else, and their primary calendar.

Two things to know:

Their secondary and group calendars are a separate matter — transfer those to another owner before you delete anyone. Google has said this behaviour is changing, so don't rely on them surviving.
If your organisation uses Google Vault, retention rules and holds stop applying the moment the account is deleted, and that data can be purged immediately. Restoring the user within 20 days does not bring it back.

Recovering deleted Drive files (for any user)

If you deleted the file yourself

Go to Google Drive at drive.google.com.

Click Trash in the left sidebar. You can sort by "Trashed date" to see how long ago something was deleted.

Find the file you want to restore.

Right-click the file and click Restore.

Files stay in Trash for 30 days. After that, they're permanently deleted.

If a user deleted a file and emptied their Trash

An admin can still recover it, for 25 days after the trash was emptied. This is a date-range restore, not a file picker: everything the user deleted in the range you choose comes back, so ask them roughly when it happened and keep the range tight.

In the Admin console, go to Menu → Directory → Users.

Point at the user and click More options, then Restore data.

Pick the date range, making sure it covers the day the item was emptied from the trash.

Under Application, choose Drive, then click Restore.

Files come back where they were. After a restore, the user has to reshare anything other people need access to. You can only run one restore at a time, and after 25 days Google purges the data for good.

If a file was in a shared drive

Each shared drive has its own trash, and files sit in it for 30 days. Any member with Contributor access or higher can restore from it.

An admin can also restore a shared drive that was deleted, or files that were emptied from a shared drive's trash, within the last 25 days: go to Menu → Apps → Google Workspace → Drive and Docs → Manage shared drives, point at the shared drive, click Restore, choose a date range, and click Restore Data.

Preventing accidental deletion

Always suspend before deleting

When someone leaves, suspend their account first — don't delete it right away. Suspension cuts off access immediately but keeps the data intact. Take a few days to make sure nothing is needed, then delete. See Removing a user safely for the full process. Be aware that a suspended account is still billed at the same rate as an active one.

Other precautions:

Use shared drives for important team files — your organisation owns those files, so they stay put when someone leaves.
Consider Google Vault (included with Business Plus, Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus among other editions, but not with Business Starter or Business Standard) to retain, hold, search and export email and Drive content. Google is explicit that Vault "isn't a data archive" — it applies retention to the live data, so it is not a substitute for deliberately transferring a leaver's files.

Common questions

I deleted a user more than 20 days ago. Is the data truly gone?

Yes. Google's own wording is that after 20 days the data is gone and can't be restored. This is why we always recommend suspending first and deleting later.

Can a regular user recover a file after emptying Trash?

Not themselves. But an admin can, from the Admin console, for 25 days after the trash was emptied — see the steps above. Tell us quickly and we'll run it for you.

What about files in a shared drive that were deleted?

Files deleted from a shared drive go to that shared drive's own trash, not a personal one. They stay there for 30 days, and any member with at least Contributor access can restore them. Only a Manager can delete them permanently before the 30 days are up.

Need a hand?

If you're stuck, email support@chykalophia.com and we'll help. Include your website address and a screenshot if you can.