Managing Trash and Deleted Items

Feedtracks uses a trash system with a 30-day retention period to protect you from accidental deletions while giving you control over storage cleanup. Understanding how trash works helps you manage your storage effectively and recover items when needed.

How the Trash System Works

Soft Delete with Retention

When you delete an item in Feedtracks:

1. The item is not immediately deleted from storage
2. A will_be_deleted_on field is set to 30 days from today
3. The item moves to the Trash view
4. The item still counts toward your storage quota
5. You can restore or permanently delete the item during this period

Date Calculation

The deletion date is calculated using:

will_be_deleted_on = Date.add(Date.utc_today(), 30)

• Uses Date type (not datetime with time)
• Always adds exactly 30 days from the day of deletion
• Example: Delete on March 1 → will_be_deleted_on = March 31

What Can Be Moved to Trash?

You can move these items to trash:

• Tracks (individual audio files and their version stacks)
• Playlists (the playlist container, not the referenced tracks)
• Folders (and all their contents recursively)

Moving Items to Trash

From the Drive View

1. Navigate to the folder containing the item
2. Select the item(s) you want to delete
3. Click the More Actions menu (three dots) or right-click
4. Select Move to Trash
5. Confirm the deletion in the dialog

The item disappears from the drive view and appears in the Trash view.

Deleting Multiple Items

You can delete multiple items simultaneously:

1. Select items using checkboxes
2. Click Move to Trash from the bulk actions menu
3. All selected items are moved to trash at once
4. Each item gets its own will_be_deleted_on date (30 days from now)

Deleting Folders

When you delete a folder:

• The folder itself is marked for deletion
• All contents are deleted recursively (tracks, playlists, subfolders)
• Each item gets a will_be_deleted_on date
• The combined storage of all items remains counted toward your quota

Be careful: Deleting a large folder with many items can consume significant trash space.

Viewing Items in Trash

Accessing the Trash View

1. Click on Trash in the left sidebar navigation
2. You’ll see all items currently in trash
3. Items are sorted by deletion date (most recent first)

Information Displayed

For each item in trash, you can see:

• Name of the item
• Type (track, playlist, or folder)
• Size (storage space used)
• Deleted on (when you moved it to trash)
• Will be deleted on (30 days after deletion)
• Days remaining until permanent deletion

Storage Impact

At the bottom of the trash view, you’ll see:

• Total storage used by trash items
• Potential storage to be freed when trash is emptied

This helps you understand how much space you’ll recover.

Restoring Items from Trash

Restoring Single Items

1. Open the Trash view
2. Find the item you want to restore
3. Click the Restore button next to the item
4. The item returns to its original location
5. The will_be_deleted_on field is cleared

The item immediately reappears in your drive at its original location.

Restoring Multiple Items

1. In the Trash view, select multiple items using checkboxes
2. Click Restore Selected from the bulk actions menu
3. All selected items are restored to their original locations

Restoring Folders

When you restore a folder:

• The folder is restored to its original location
• All contents are restored recursively (tracks, playlists, subfolders)
• The entire folder structure is preserved
• All restored items return to their original positions

Restoration and Storage Quotas

Important: Restoration checks your current storage quota.

If restoring an item would exceed your available storage:

• The restore operation is blocked
• You’ll see an error: “Insufficient storage space”
• You must free up space or upgrade your plan before restoring

To resolve:

• Delete other items and empty trash
• Upgrade to a higher plan
• Restore smaller items first

Permanently Deleting Items

Manual Permanent Deletion

To free storage immediately without waiting 30 days:

1. Open the Trash view
2. Select the item(s) you want to permanently delete
3. Click Delete Permanently or Empty Trash
4. Confirm the permanent deletion

Warning: This action cannot be undone. The item and all its data are permanently removed from storage.

Emptying Trash Entirely

To permanently delete all items in trash at once:

1. Open the Trash view
2. Click Empty Trash button
3. Confirm you want to permanently delete all items
4. All items in trash are permanently deleted
5. Storage space is freed immediately

Use this carefully: You cannot recover any items after emptying trash.

Storage Freed Immediately

When you permanently delete items:

• ✅ Storage is freed instantly
• ✅ Your storage quota updates immediately
• ✅ You can upload new files using the freed space
• ❌ The deletion cannot be undone

Automatic Permanent Deletion

Background Job: BulkDeletionWorker

Feedtracks runs a background job called BulkDeletionWorker that handles automatic permanent deletions.

How It Works

The background job:

1. Runs periodically (typically daily)
2. Checks for items where will_be_deleted_on date has passed
3. Permanently deletes those items from storage
4. Updates storage calculations
5. Removes database records

When Items Are Deleted

Items are permanently deleted when:

• Date.utc_today() is greater than or equal to will_be_deleted_on
• Example: If will_be_deleted_on = March 31 and today is March 31, the item is deleted

You Don’t Need to Do Anything

Automatic deletion means:

• No manual cleanup required
• Trash self-manages after 30 days
• Storage is gradually freed as items expire
• You only need to act if you want to restore or delete early

Storage Considerations

Trash Items Count Toward Storage

Critical: Items in trash still use your storage quota.

If you have:

• 8GB of active files
• 3GB of items in trash
• Total storage used: 11GB

If you’re on the Fan plan (10GB), you’re over quota and cannot upload new files until you:

• Permanently delete items from trash, or
• Upgrade your plan

Why Items Stay in Storage

Items remain in storage during the 30-day period because:

• They can be restored at any time
• The files must be preserved for restoration
• This protects against accidental deletion

Freeing Storage Immediately

If you need storage space right now:

1. Option 1: Permanently delete specific items from trash
2. Option 2: Empty trash entirely
3. Option 3: Upgrade your plan

All three options free storage immediately.

Tracks with Versions

All Versions Move to Trash Together

When you delete a track with multiple versions:

• The entire version stack is moved to trash
• All versions are marked with will_be_deleted_on
• The combined size of all versions counts toward trash storage

Restoring Preserves All Versions

When you restore a track:

• All versions are restored together
• Version numbers and positions remain unchanged
• Version history is fully preserved

Permanently Deleting Removes All Versions

When you permanently delete a track:

• All versions are deleted from storage
• Storage is freed for the sum of all version sizes
• Example: 3 versions (50MB + 52MB + 48MB) = 150MB freed

Playlists in Trash

Playlists vs. Referenced Tracks

When you delete a playlist:

• The playlist container moves to trash
• The tracks referenced by the playlist do NOT move to trash
• Track files remain in their original folders

Restoring Playlists

When you restore a playlist:

• The playlist container is restored
• Track references are restored
• If a referenced track was deleted separately, it will be missing from the playlist

Permanently Deleting Playlists

When you permanently delete a playlist:

• Only the playlist container is deleted
• Track references are removed
• Referenced track files are unaffected (they remain in their folders)

Folders in Trash

Recursive Deletion

When you delete a folder:

• The folder and all contents are moved to trash recursively
• Subfolders, tracks, and playlists all get will_be_deleted_on dates

Recursive Restoration

When you restore a folder:

• The folder and all contents are restored recursively
• The entire structure is preserved

Recursive Permanent Deletion

When a folder’s will_be_deleted_on date passes (or you manually delete it):

• The folder and all contents are permanently deleted
• All storage is freed

Best Practices

1. Review Trash Before Emptying

Before emptying trash:

• Review the list of items
• Check if anything important was accidentally deleted
• Restore any items you want to keep
• Only then empty trash

2. Free Storage Proactively

If you’re approaching your storage limit:

• Check trash for large items
• Permanently delete items you’re sure you don’t need
• Don’t wait for automatic deletion if you need space now

3. Use Trash as a Safety Net

Think of trash as “undo delete”:

• Don’t worry too much about accidental deletions
• You have 30 days to notice and restore
• Review trash weekly to catch mistakes

4. Be Cautious with Folder Deletion

Deleting a folder affects many items:

• Double-check before deleting large folders
• Consider moving items out of the folder first if unsure
• Remember: restoring a folder restores everything inside

5. Permanent Deletion Is Final

Before permanently deleting:

• ✅ Confirm you’ll never need the item again
• ✅ Check if anyone else needs the item (in shared drives)
• ✅ Download a local backup if it’s important
• ❌ Don’t delete items just to free space if you might need them later (upgrade instead)

6. Monitor Trash Storage

Add trash review to your routine:

• Weekly: Check for accidentally deleted items
• Monthly: Evaluate if you should empty trash early
• Before upgrading: Empty trash to reduce storage needs

Troubleshooting

I can’t restore an item

Possible causes:

• Not enough available storage quota
• The item’s original location no longer exists
• You don’t have permissions to restore (in shared drives)

Solution:

• Free up storage by deleting other items
• Upgrade your plan
• Check with the drive admin for permission issues

An item disappeared from trash

Possible causes:

• 30 days passed and it was automatically deleted
• Another user with permissions permanently deleted it
• You permanently deleted it and forgot

Solution:

• Check the date you deleted the item (if it was >30 days ago, it’s gone)
• Check activity logs (if available) to see who deleted it
• Unfortunately, once permanently deleted, items cannot be recovered

Trash is using too much storage

Solution:

• Permanently delete items you’re certain you don’t need
• Empty trash entirely if you’re confident about all items
• Wait for automatic deletion to gradually free space

I deleted something by mistake

Solution:

• Go to Trash immediately
• Find the item
• Click Restore
• The item returns to its original location

Storage didn’t free after deleting

Possible cause: You moved items to trash but didn’t permanently delete them.

Solution:

• Items in trash still count toward storage
• Permanently delete items or empty trash to free storage

Can’t empty trash due to shared items

Possible cause: Some items are in shared drives where you don’t have admin permissions.

Solution:

• You can only permanently delete items you have permission to delete
• Ask the drive admin to remove those items
• Or restore those items and only empty your own items

Trash vs. Permanent Delete Comparison

Action	Trash	Permanent Delete
Reversible?	✅ Yes (30 days)	❌ No
Frees storage?	❌ No	✅ Yes
How long?	30 days	Immediate
Can restore?	✅ Yes	❌ Never
Automatic?	✅ After 30 days	❌ Manual only

Related Articles

• Understanding Storage Limits
• Upgrading Your Plan
• Moving Tracks Between Folders
• Managing Track Versions
• Making and Managing Playlists