How to clear cloud storage

When was the last time you checked your cloud drive’s storage? Chances are, you’re sitting on gigabytes of storage occupied by outdated, duplicated, or unused data without even realizing it. This may not be a problem until your cloud storage provider warns you that you’re running low on space, or worse, that your inbox will stop receiving messages unless you clear it immediately.

Instead of scrambling to clear your storage to salvage as much space as possible, you can get a head start by staying on top of your storage early on. This article will explain how and what cloud data you can delete efficiently, whether you’re an individual user looking to free up space or an administrator managing storage across a team.

What is cloud storage?

Cloud storage is a cloud computing model where data is stored on off-site servers and managed by a third-party provider. Users who have subscribed to the cloud provider can access the data through the internet or a private network connection. They don’t need to build the entire infrastructure to hold their data, and they pay only for what they use.

Cloud systems are scalable, allow easier collaboration, and are cost-efficient when compared to on-prem storage systems, making them widely preferred by businesses and users alike.

Given their upsides, cloud storage systems are, in fact, physical computers that can offer only so much storage for a single user or organization. This means you either pay for additional storage, or manage what you already have by deleting or organizing your data.

Why do you need to clear cloud storage?

Let’s look at some of the reasons why you should clear data in cloud storage.

To optimize space: This is the primary reason to delete your cloud storage. By clearing out data you no longer need, you can save up space. This will help you save money by not having to purchase additional storage.

Faster performance: Clearing your cloud storage improves your overall cloud storage’s performance. Fewer files means faster search results, faster folder loading, and smoother syncing across devices.

To prevent a potential data breach: Older files that are longer needed may still contain confidential information that can be used by bad actors. Even if the exposure is unintentional, the consequences go beyond financial loss and can affect your reputation and operations as well. Regularly reviewing and deleting your old files will prevent such breaches and attacks.

To save on unnecessary subscription costs: Sometimes, you may be paying for extra storage that you may not actually need. By simply reviewing and deleting your data, you can free up space without spending more.

What shouldn't you delete from cloud storage?

Before you start clearing your storage, it’s worth knowing what to be careful about. Not everything that looks unused is safe to delete.

Shared files you don’t own: Deleting a file that others depend on can disrupt their work. If you’re unsure whether a file is still in use, check with the owner before removing it.

Files under a legal or compliance hold: If your organization is in a regulated industry or is subject to an audit, certain files may need to be retained for a specified period. Deleting them prematurely can have legal consequences.

Recently archived project files: Files from completed projects may look inactive but could be needed for future reference. Archive them rather than delete them outright.

Account data near a retention window: If an employee has recently left your organization, their data is typically held for a certain period depending on your organization’s retention policy. Avoid deleting files during this window without first confirming that ownership has been transferred.

7 best practices to follow while clearing cloud storage

Audit your storage

The first step in deleting huge volumes is taking note of all the data you have. This can be extremely time-consuming and tiring, especially if you’re looking at years’ worth of information. An easier approach is to group your files by category and relevance. Once you get a clear picture of what you have, it becomes much easier to identify what can go.

Delete files you no longer need

The fastest method to clear cloud storage is by deleting files directly. You can do this based on:

• Size: Sort the files from big to small and start deleting the big files first.
• Date: Sort files from oldest to newest and delete the oldest ones. This prevents accidental breaches.
• Temporary files: Temporary files like downloads or images received in group chats can quickly crowd your storage. Identifying and deleting them helps you free up space.

Leave shared folders or files

Shared folders and files that you’re no longer actively part of still count toward your storage. Leaving them is a simple way to recover that space.

Remove duplicates

Old files and screenshots that have been downloaded from multiple conversations can create duplicates that occupy your cloud storage. Identifying and removing them is a quick way to recover space.

Revoke third-party access

Regularly check applications that have access to your cloud account. These apps can generate files that will occupy your storage. Outdated integrations can also expose your account to security risks.

Archive old data

Not all data can be deleted. But, you may also not require it for your day-to-day operations. In such cases, you can archive it if your cloud provider has that provision, or store it on external hard drives or low-cost storage devices.

Clear the trash folder

Even after you delete your files, they’re still going to be held up in the Trash folder and be counted against your storage until they’re permanently deleted. While they’re held up there, they’re still going to occupy your storage. So, if you wish to free up space instantly, make sure to empty your Trash as well.

You can follow this process for any cloud provider. Let’s look at how you can do this for Zoho Workplace.

How can you optimize your cloud storage in Zoho Workplace?

If your organization uses Zoho Workplace, here’s how you can apply these steps across each application in the suite.

Zoho Mail

Email communication silently contributes to your storage, so it’s important to clear your email data regularly to ensure you don’t run low on storage. Here are some of the measures you can take to save up on your email storage.

• Delete individual emails and move them to the Trash folder. These emails will still count against your storage, so empty the Trash folder to free up space.
• Delete emails sent from select senders using the Scrub feature. This deletes emails in bulk across multiple folders, helping you clean up your storage quickly.
• Automate your clean-up schedule using the Junk cleanup option, which lets you decide how long an email stays in the Trash or Spam folders before being permanently deleted.
• Delete email drafts you’re no longer planning to use. Clearing out drafts regularly avoids any pile-ups that will require manual intervention later.
• Unsubscribe from promotional emails that are no longer useful for you.
• Add commonly received spam domains to the reject list. This will automatically bounce emails sent from those domains.

Zoho WorkDrive

File management software is the next major draw on your cloud storage. To manage your Zoho WorkDrive storage efficiently:

• Delete a file or folder and move it to the Trash, where it will be retained for a period of time before being automatically deleted. These files still count against your storage quota until you empty the Trash, which will free up storage space.
• Use Team folders to avoid creating duplicates of a single folder. Team folders are a common repository where team members can add files and folders for others to access.
• Periodically audit the files available in your WorkDrive to find any large files you no longer use and delete them. This cycle helps you keep an eye on your storage usage and clear out any unused ones.

Zoho Cliq

Over time, conversations in Zoho Cliq can accumulate shared files, images, and attachments that take up storage. You can clear your chat history and any files you’ve shared in a conversation to clear up storage.

Zoho Connect

Zoho Connect is your organization’s internal collaboration network, and like any active platform, it can accumulate a significant amount of data over time in the form of attachments, images, videos, and group files. Administrators can use the Data Storage manager to get a complete breakdown of storage usage and filter files by date or size to identify what can be safely removed. Deleting content from here permanently removes it from the network.

Note that deleted data—such as groups, boards, and posts—are moved to Trash, where they can be restored within a certain period before being permanently erased from the servers.

Zoho Office suite (Writer, Sheet, Show)

Documents, spreadsheets, and presentations created in Zoho Writer, Sheet, and Show are stored directly in Zoho WorkDrive. To delete them, simply remove them from WorkDrive following the same steps as mentioned above.

These steps cover what individual users can do to manage their storage. If you’re an administrator, you have access to a broader set of tools that give you more control over how data is handled across your entire organization, from setting automated retention policies to monitoring storage usage at a team level.

Tips for administrators to efficiently manage organizational data stored on the cloud

If you’re an IT or organization administrator, you have a greater degree of control over how data is deleted and retained across your team. Rather than relying on individual users to manage their own storage, you can set policies that automate the process and ensure that your organization stays within its storage limits while remaining compliant.

Set effective data retention and deletion policies

The admin settings in Zoho Workplace give you additional control in handling data in your storage. You can:

• Clear files, audio, and video recordings received in Cliq and clean up your storage in one shot.
• Set limits for file versions and automatically delete them once they reach it. This ensures that only the newest versions are retained, deleting obsolete older ones.
• Set a retention policy to delete files from Trash after a specific number of days.

Zoho WorkDrive also offers provisions to share storage space among your organization’s users, giving you better control over storage and ensuring that no user has more than what they actually need.

Apart from managing email deletion as an admin, you can also set retention policies to hold your data for compliance and ensure that your data isn’t permanently lost before you review it.

Zoho Mail’s eDiscovery portal helps with this by allowing you to place specific emails under a legal hold, export them for audit purposes, and then permanently purge them from the system. This ensures that storage is freed up without compromising your organization’s legal obligations.

Similarly, files permanently deleted from Zoho WorkDrive and messages from Zoho Cliq are retained in the eDiscovery portal for the duration specified in your retention policy, giving you a safety net before data is permanently deleted.

Manage data when employees leave

When an employee leaves your organization, their account data doesn’t disappear immediately. In Zoho WorkDrive, Zoho Cliq, and Zoho Mail, data from a deleted account is retained on the servers for a certain duration. During this window, administrators should transfer ownership of any important files to an active user before the account is permanently deleted. This prevents accidental data loss and ensures continuity for the rest of the team.

Monitor storage usage across the team

Rather than waiting for a storage warning, administrators can proactively monitor storage consumption using the tools available in each application. Zoho WorkDrive’s Admin Console provides a full breakdown of storage by file type and user. Zoho Mail’s mailbox reports show which accounts are consuming the most space. Zoho Connect’s Data Storage manager lets you filter by file size and date to identify large or outdated content. Reviewing these reports regularly makes storage management far less reactive and far more controlled.

How often should you clean up your cloud storage?

Cloud storage doesn’t manage itself. Without a regular schedule, clutter builds up faster than you realize and you’ll find yourself back where you started. Here’s a simple schedule you can follow with examples highlighted from Zoho Workplace applications.

Weekly: Empty the Trash in Zoho Mail and Zoho WorkDrive. Delete any files shared in Zoho Cliq from projects or conversations that have already concluded. This takes no more than a few minutes and prevents small buildups from becoming large ones.

Monthly: Review your largest files and delete anything you no longer need. Bulk-delete old file versions in Zoho WorkDrive to recover space without removing current work. Check and revoke any external sharing links that are no longer active.

Quarterly: Audit your team folder structure in WorkDrive and remove inactive members from shared folders. Review your data retention and eDiscovery settings in the Admin Console to make sure they still reflect your organization’s needs. Use Zoho Connect’s Data Storage manager to identify and remove large or outdated attachments.

Wrapping up

Managing your cloud storage doesn’t have to be a one-time scramble. With a clear sense of what to delete, what to archive, and how often to review, you can stay on top of your storage usage, keep your data secure, your costs in check, and your workplace running smoothly.