Link Safe

Most files you save to Dropbox, Google Drive and other online storage accounts are backups of items you already have elsewhere, so it doesn’t matter too much if you lose them. But if they’re the only copies you have, then accidental deletion is more of a worry. Fortunately, it’s usually easy to recover files that vanish from the cloud. For Dropbox files, sign into the web interface and click the Events option in the left-hand menu. This provides a timeline of every change to your account, including file deletions. Find and click the

entry for the files you deleted, and click ‘Restore these files’ to recover them. 

In Google Drive, first check your Trash folder to see if the lost items are there. If not, you can submit a recovery request to Google via its support page ‘Get help with locating or recovering a deleted file’ (bit.ly/1cxSsyl). This asks for information about the lost file, such as its name and when you last accessed it,

and reassuringly promises: “Don’t worry our Drive specialists will look into this as soon as possible and you’ll have your file in no time”.

On the OneDrive website, click the ‘Recycle bin’ option at the bottom of the left-hand menu to view your deleted files, which are stored for one year before being removed, then select the ones you want and choose ‘Restore items’. Unlike Google, Microsoft doesn’t offer much help if your lost files aren’t in the bin, other than advising you to check other folders carefully and “ask the owner to share them again”.