Delete safely

Treat deletion as a final decision

Mirror sync, duplicate cleanup, and large-file cleanup can all remove data. They should be the final step after you understand the files involved—not a background side effect of scanning or comparing.

For Google Drive folders synced locally with the Google Drive client, cleanup is a local filesystem action. FileLever does not delete remote Drive items through a cloud API; the Google Drive client reconciles local changes with your Drive account afterward.

For Dropbox, FileLever connects directly to the account you authorize. Remote move and delete actions require write access and explicit confirmation; review your Dropbox recovery settings before treating a remote deletion as reversible.

Before you confirm a removal

1. Check the workflow. Confirm whether you are running copy/update, mirror, duplicate cleanup, or large-file cleanup.
2. Review full paths. A file can be safe to remove in one folder and important in another.
3. Check the proposed result. Review Target Only files before a mirror run, or review every member of a duplicate group before selecting extras.
4. Keep what has the right purpose. For duplicates, keep the copy in the most useful location. For large files, verify that an archive or backup is available before deletion.
5. Approve deliberately. Do not use bulk cleanup until you have reviewed the affected files or groups.

When to slow down

Take extra care with:

• mirror runs against large target folders
• old backups and external-drive archives
• unfamiliar files that happen to be large
• duplicate groups spread across project folders and Downloads
• any folder whose current contents you do not fully understand

Keep a recovery path

Maintain a separate backup for important data before cleanup. When a move or archive is the better outcome, verify the destination copy before removing the original.

Choose the workflow before you choose delete

• Use Folder Sync when you need to compare two locations and decide whether copy/update or mirror is appropriate.
• Use Duplicate File Finder when the question is which identical copy should remain.
• Use Large File Reviewer when the question is which storage-heavy file is worth archiving, moving, or removing.

Keeping those jobs separate gives you a clearer preview and a more meaningful final confirmation.

Explore next

• Sync modes
• Duplicate File Finder
• Large File Reviewer
• Google Drive workflows
• Dropbox workflows
• Compare two folders on Mac