Soft Delete vs Versioning: What Each One Keeps, and for How Long
· 3 min read
Soft delete keeps a deleted item for a set number of days, then removes it for good. Versioning keeps the older copies of a file when you replace it. On a cloud drive, the trash or recycle bin does the job of soft delete.
Soft delete always ends. Azure keeps soft-deleted data for 1 to 365 days[1] and Google Cloud Storage for 7 to 90 days[2]. Blob versions in Azure stay until you delete them[3].
You cannot open a soft-deleted file until you restore it[4], while an older version stays readable[5]. On both Google Cloud Storage[6] and Azure[7], soft delete also keeps the data that an overwrite replaces.
Soft-deleted data is billed like any stored data until the period ends, on Azure[8] and on Google Cloud Storage[9]. For protection against accidental or malicious deletes, Google recommends soft delete over versioning[10].
| Provider | Name | How long | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Google Cloud Storage | Soft delete | 7 days by default, 7 to 90 days, or 0 to turn it off[11] | On by default in buckets that support it |
| Azure Blob Storage | Blob soft delete | 1 to 365 days[12] | On by default for storage accounts created in the Azure portal[13] |
| Azure Blob Storage | Container soft delete | 7 days by default[14] | Keeps whole deleted containers |
| Google Drive | Trash | 30 days[15] | Counts toward your storage |
| Dropbox | Deleted files | 30, 180 or 365 days, by plan[16] | |
| OneDrive (personal) | Recycle bin | 30 days[17] | |
| OneDrive for work or school | Recycle bin | 93 days, unless an admin changed it[18] | |
| Box | Trash | 30 days by default[19] | Business and Enterprise admins can shorten or lengthen it |
| iCloud Drive | Recently Deleted | 30 days[20] |
In a versioned bucket on Amazon S3[21], Backblaze B2[22], DigitalOcean Spaces[23], IBM Cloud Object Storage[24], Oracle Cloud[25] and Storj[26], a delete adds a delete marker instead of removing the data. The file looks deleted, but its older versions stay until you or a lifecycle rule remove them. File Versioning on Overwrite lists the versioning defaults and costs of each provider.
Blober copies and moves files between clouds, and deletes files in a Delete workflow:
- By default, Blober skips a file when one with the same name is already at the destination.
- When Blober overwrites a file on Proton Drive, the old file goes to the trash.
- On Backblaze B2, a Move or Delete workflow hides the file, and its older versions stay.
- Blober copies current files only. Trashed and soft-deleted files stay with the source provider.
Is a trash the same as soft delete? For deleted files, yes. Cloud drives call it the trash, the recycle bin or Recently Deleted, and Azure and Google Cloud Storage call it soft delete.
Do I need versioning if my provider has soft delete? Soft delete or the trash brings back a file that you deleted and noticed within days. A good file replaced by a bad one needs an older version, unless your provider's soft delete also keeps overwritten data. For a problem that you find after the period ends, only versioning or a copy with a second provider still has the file, as the 3-2-1 backup rule describes.