Some users' files have disappeared from Google Drive: The company has launched an investigation

Users of the cloud storage service Google Drive are facing a significant issue as they report a loss of access to their files. Reports include both complete disappearance of files from the cloud service and loss of access to files, along with other issues related to cloud storage. At the moment, Google is conducting an investigation into the incident, attempting to resolve the problem, and advising affected users not to make any changes to Google Drive.

According to posts on YCombinator's Hacker News forum, a user from South Korea was the first to reach out to Google's support site, stating that all files created after May 2023 had vanished from the drive. These files are not accessible in folders or the trash, and the folder structure has reverted to its state as of May 2023. The user claims to have never shared files or authentication credentials with third parties, ruling out the possibility of deletion by the original owner or their acquaintances. Despite attempts to recover the lost data, Google has not yet resolved the issue.

Company representatives have reported initiating an investigation and acknowledged receiving messages from other Google Drive users experiencing similar problems. Simultaneously, a statement from Google advises against attempting self-recovery, stating, "We also do not recommend making changes to the root directory and data folders while we await instructions on further actions from our engineers."

Meanwhile, additional cloud service users have joined the complaints, opening support threads describing the complete loss of critical elements on their Drive that were never shared with others, yet remain invisible in the trash or during editing attempts. Another affected user has outlined a problem where they can only see folders and nested folders on their drive but not the actual files.

It's important to note that the source of the problem is unclear from the reports. It is uncertain whether files disappeared from the web version of Google Drive or when using its application, or solely from synchronized folders on computers. There is a possibility that affected users have not checked all possible locations for their files, but even in such cases, there appears to be an issue with Drive.