Introduction

This article describes how to find and relocate orphaned files in Google Drive.

Instructions

The best way to avoid orphaned files is to place all collaborative documents within a shared drive.

Orphaned files are files that belong to you, but don't show up in your directory structure. Therefore, you can't find it by browsing your folders. This occurs when someone deletes a folder they own where a file you own resides.

There are two different ways to recover orphaned files.

• Search for the name of the file in the Search bar.
• Type "is: unorganized owner: me" in the Search bar.

Either way you use, once you have found the file, you can move it to a location of your choosing.

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_{Google Workspace Program Search Term: GWP}