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I'm considering using Google Drive as my primary backup solution. However, I was not able to figure out exactly When Google Drive deletes old versions of a file.

  • After 100 versions
  • After 30 days

When looking at my files, files seem to get deleted only once both conditions are fulfilled. Is that true? (I only have very few files right now in my Google Drive so it is hard to figure it out myself.)

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  • Vincent, if you have found what you wanted to know then do mark the answer as correct
    – Karan Shah
    Commented Jan 9, 2017 at 5:55
  • @KaranShah I accepted your answer. Thanks. Right now I am running a script which changes a file on drive frequently. I'll let you know as soon as I know.
    – AnatraIlDuck
    Commented Jan 19, 2017 at 9:38

2 Answers 2

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You're correct, for non-native versions of files - Google keeps the revisions for either up to 100 revisions or till 30 days (whichever is shorter). However there is a way to keep a revision of a file forever.

One screenshot I took will help for sure: enter image description here

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  • thanks! So the thing is, I found one file in my drive which has 87 versions and dates back to 31 oct 2016 - how is that?
    – AnatraIlDuck
    Commented Jan 10, 2017 at 8:07
  • Is it a non native file? As in gdocs, gsheet? Also, if someone purchases the premium version of G suite, they can have unlimited versions
    – Karan Shah
    Commented Jan 10, 2017 at 8:19
  • It is not a native file (zip)... And I shouldn't have premium :/
    – AnatraIlDuck
    Commented Jan 10, 2017 at 8:50
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    In google docs I don't see the option "Keep forever", but there is a "named versions". Are named versions kept forever in google docs?
    – a06e
    Commented Oct 29, 2017 at 20:28
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    This answer seems outdated.
    – JinSnow
    Commented Apr 20, 2019 at 8:23
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I have been versioning a zip file on Google Drive and just tried to submit my 201th version of the file and got an error. When I deleted my penultimate recent version and tried again, it let me upload my new version. So my experience is 200 versions max, given that I am nowhere near the max disk space mentioned in other posts on this thread.

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