Easy Ways to Free Up Space in Google Drive

This article will help you use Filerev to quickly reduce the clutter caused by unnecessary files in your account, ultimately reducing your storage usage in Google Drive. This list highlights features that allow many accounts to regain the most storage space as quickly as possible. This is not an all-inclusive list so I recommend taking a look at the walk-through guides for more ideas.

Also, for those just getting started, you may want to take a look at the quick start guide and learn the benefits of using filters combined with deleting or bulk deleting.

Each category listed below provides a high-level overview. You can use the read more links provided to learn more about each topic.

  • Duplicate files. Filerev will show you your duplicate files, with the files taking the most storage space listed first. You have the option of deleting all duplicate files or using a filter to remove specific duplicates. For example, you can use a filter to show duplicate photos or view duplicates that live in a specific folder. Read more.
  • Largest files. This category will show the files taking the most storage space first. You can also use a filter to view files larger, between, or smaller than a given size or find files that are an exact size. You can combine the filter with a date range or filter by specific folders or file types to further drill into the category.
  • Largest folders. The large folders page shows your folders sorted from largest to smallest. It will show every folder in your account, and you can use filters to view folders larger, between or smaller than a given size or view only folders in a given path. Each folder will show the amount of storage used as well as the total number of files and folders that live inside the folder. Read more.
  • Hidden files. The hidden files page shows files hiding in your account and still taking up storage space. These files do not live in a Google Drive folder but can only be found by searching for the exact file name. Filerev makes it easy to see these files, and you can decide whether to remove them or move them into a folder so they are no longer hidden. Read more.
  • Old files. The old files page shows files grouped by their creation date. This makes it easy to see files that are outdated that you no longer need in your account. You can use filters to view old files of a specific file type, owned by a specific account, or within a certain date range. You can also use the bulk delete feature to get rid of your unnecessary old files. Read more.
  • Temporary files. The temporary files page allows you to see your files that were created temporarily and were accidentally synced to your Google Drive. Most temporary files are safe to remove, although occasionally you may find a temporary file that should be kept. You can use the bulk delete option to remove all your temporary files, or select them one by one to delete only the unnecessary ones. Read more.
  • Files by type or extension. The files by type page allows you to view files by their extension. For example, you may want to only view files with .jpg, .pdf, or .zip extensions. You can also browse by different file categories, which are detected by looking at the content inside, not by the extension. This allows you to see files that are a certain type but were named with the wrong extension. Read more.