Taylor Kerns / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google Photos currently keeps backed-up media in the Trash for 60 days and regular, non-backed-up media for 30 days.
- Code found in Google Photos v7.90 indicates Google plans to unify this rule, reducing trash retention for all media to 30 days.
- The change is not yet live, but it will likely be announced with plenty of notice before rolling out broadly.
Google appears to be preparing a notable shift in Google Photos, shortening the time deleted photos and videos sit in your trash folder before they vanish forever. While Google has been spotted working on smarter backup solutions, such as overnight backup options, this upcoming change could rationalize how long your discarded media hangs around.
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According to Google’s official support documentation, backed-up photos and videos currently stay in your Trash for 60 days before being permanently purged. In contrast, items that were never backed up to the cloud are automatically removed after 30 days. The screenshots below show Google Photos highlighting the existing policy through a banner in the Trash section:
When you tap an item in Trash, it shows how many days remain before the item is permanently deleted. Since we deleted a backed-up photo, it says we have 59 days before it gets permanently deleted.
In Google Photos v7.90, we spotted code that suggests Google plans to unify these rules. Deleted media (i.e., that is moved to the Trash) may soon be permanently deleted after just 30 days in the Trash, cutting the existing safety window in half.
Code
The time items will be in the trash is changing from 60 days to 30 days before they’re permanently deleted.We managed to enable this change ahead of its release to give you an early look:
But why would Google make this change? While we don’t know the official rationale, it’s fair to presume that a unified policy gives users a more consistent experience and means you wouldn’t have to do separate mental math about how long each of your media files will stay in the Trash.
There’s also the possibility that this could help Google save on server storage costs, especially in this day and age of RAMageddon, where RAM and storage prices are sky-high. Every little bit counts, and for Google, halving the time between Trash and permanent deletion across millions of users could get it some healthy breathing room.
Google will likely not make this change abruptly, and we presume that the company will give users plenty of heads-up before flipping the switch. The change is not yet live, and we’ll keep you updated when we learn more.
⚠️ An APK teardown helps predict features that may arrive on a service in the future based on work-in-progress code. However, it is possible that such predicted features may not make it to a public release.
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