Google Drive users are reporting that recent files stored in the cloud have suddenly disappeared, with the cloud service reverting to a storage snapshot as it was around April-May 2023.
Google Drive is a cloud-based storage service that allows users to store and access files from any internet-connected device using their Google account. It is a popular service for both individuals and businesses (as part of Google Workspace).
A trending issue reported on Google’s support forums starting last week describes a situation where people say they lost recent data and folder structure changes.
“There is a serious problem here that must be addressed immediately.” “We have a support ticket open, but this has not been helpful so far,” a Google Drive user commented on the support thread.
“I pay extra each month to store folders in the cloud so that it is safe, so it is devastating that all my work appears to have been lost,” another Google Drive user posted.
The activity logs on impacted accounts do not show any recent changes, confirming that the users themselves didn’t accidentally delete them.
Overall, there is no evidence of a user error, but rather of a problem with the service’s system that prevented data synchronization between local devices and Google Cloud at some point.
Some users have offline caches that may contain the missing data, but no known method exists to restore access to the data contained within them.