Photo: Jarretera (Shutterstock)
Accidentally deleting stuff is not fun. It can be all too easy to mistakenly erase photos, files, and conversations from your accounts, sometimes without even realizing it. Many of these platforms, luckily, have some type of “trash” system, which allows you to save your info before it’s permanently deleted. Believe it or not, Google Calendar offers such a feature—it’s just not very obvious.
Unbeknownst to me, Google Calendar actually has a trash feature. After years of using the service for work, Google has never once advertised the option to me. I just assumed deleted calendar events simply vanished into the Googleplex. Instead, they live comfortably in the “hidden” trash section, just waiting for someone to one day stumble upon and restore them.
How to find the trash in Google Calendar
Google hasn’t brought this feature to mobile yet, so you’ll need to start by using the desktop app. Open Google Calendar in the browser of your choice, click the settings gear in the top-right corner, then choose “Trash.”
Here, you’ll see a list of your recently deleted calendar events from the past 30 days. To restore an event, just click the backward arrow on its entry. To delete an event for good, click the corresponding trash can. If you want to delete all events in your Trash, you can choose “Empty trash.”
Screenshot: Jake Peterson
You can also manage multiple entries at once. Click on the boxes next to each entry you want to control, or click the box at the top of the list to select all. Now, you can choose to restore all events from the backward arrow next to the select all box, or choose to delete all from the trash can.
Google Calendar automatically erases deleted events after 30 days
The catch? Items in Trash are deleted after 30 days. Now that you know about this feature, it shouldn’t be a problem though—if you accidentally delete something, you’re likely going to restore it right away. If you regret deleting something, 30 days should be long enough for you to change your mind.
[How-To Geek]
