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Original poster

Does anyone know how to find a missing Google Doc document?

13 replies

parameciumparty · 22/09/2023 22:59

My friend thinks she may have accidentally deleted a Google Doc document. She's searched everywhere, but it's not there. It wasn't backed up on the computer, just on Google Cloud storage. She can't remember deleting it as it's important and not something she would have done. The bin is empty so it's not there.

Does anyone know if it can be retrieved somehow?

OP posts:
WelcomeToLagos · 22/09/2023 23:02

Go back into the app it was created in, and search in the opened recently?

does she know the file name?

was it sent to someone and it’s an attachment to her email?

Beecham · 22/09/2023 23:05

Look through browser history? Link to doc should be there

Puppyseahorse · 22/09/2023 23:05

Should be in recently opened. Did she share it with anyone? If so, ask them to check shared with me.

or browser history.

is she sure it was a google doc?

Doyoumind · 22/09/2023 23:05

Was the doc created by her, in her Drive? Could she have been logged in in another account?

EggAndSpooning · 22/09/2023 23:05

Could she have multiple google accounts and it’s in a different Drive account?

Original poster
parameciumparty · 22/09/2023 23:08

She shares the account with her sister as they were both working on the same document. It hasn't been worked on since 2021, but it was opened this June which is the last time there was any contact with it.

OP posts:
Original poster
parameciumparty · 22/09/2023 23:08

I'll ask her about another Drive account.

OP posts:
Original poster
parameciumparty · 22/09/2023 23:10

WelcomeToLagos · 22/09/2023 23:02

Go back into the app it was created in, and search in the opened recently?

does she know the file name?

was it sent to someone and it’s an attachment to her email?

It wasn't sent to anyone.

OP posts:
Original poster
parameciumparty · 22/09/2023 23:12

Beecham · 22/09/2023 23:05

Look through browser history? Link to doc should be there

It hasn't been looked at since June, would the browser history go back this far?

I'm collecting all these ideas which I'll then send her.

OP posts:
outerlope · 22/09/2023 23:17

How is she searching? Sometimes when I look through google drive I can't seem to find something but when I use the search bar to find the name of the file it works. Assuming she's using the search bar is she definitely searching the right name? Was there a phrase or word written inside the file that she can search for? It's not particularly easy to accidentally delete something so I would thought it would be somewhere.

Also has she checked the "shared with me" section in case she is misremembering and it was made on a different account and shared with her?

Also is she a hundred hundred percent sure she has no other google account and she could be on the wrong one?

Has depending on your settings, google sometimes sends an email if someone else comments on your google doc or when its first shared. Can she search her email as well for any mention of it?

Lastly is she absolutely sure she made it on google docs and not just on word on her computer?

Original poster
parameciumparty · 22/09/2023 23:27

outerlope · 22/09/2023 23:17

How is she searching? Sometimes when I look through google drive I can't seem to find something but when I use the search bar to find the name of the file it works. Assuming she's using the search bar is she definitely searching the right name? Was there a phrase or word written inside the file that she can search for? It's not particularly easy to accidentally delete something so I would thought it would be somewhere.

Also has she checked the "shared with me" section in case she is misremembering and it was made on a different account and shared with her?

Also is she a hundred hundred percent sure she has no other google account and she could be on the wrong one?

Has depending on your settings, google sometimes sends an email if someone else comments on your google doc or when its first shared. Can she search her email as well for any mention of it?

Lastly is she absolutely sure she made it on google docs and not just on word on her computer?

It was definitely made on Google Docs and she does have other accounts. Good idea about the email. I'll advise her to check tomorrow. From what it says online, documents can't be restored after they've been deleted for 30 days. Apparently she was tidying up her desktop and then couldn't find the document after that.

OP posts:
Doyoumind · 22/09/2023 23:48

Does she have an actual computer or a chrome book?

Willyoubuymeahouseofgold · 23/09/2023 01:54

I was going to suggest another email account. The Drives are different and it may not have been her usual, frequently used Drive that it was created in.

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