Why does Google keep returning my deleted items, and how do I delete them so they stay gone?

Tomatoes [they/them]@beehaw.org to Asklemmy@lemmy.ml – 21 points –

This has been going on for over a year now. About a month after I delete items to free up space, my account will be full again with the items I deleted before. Or I will update a contact and a phone number that they no longer have will be returned to their info. What am I missing?

I mean, I know the ultimate solution is to fully detach from Google. But while I'm trying to back my stuff up and make the transition easier, any help?

5

  • clear cache

  • re-log

  • deactivate > reactivate google account sync

Does this mean I do the deleting, then clear my cache, then log out and in, then turn sync off and on? Do I have to do this across multiple devices? Like, I've never found a method to log out of Google entirely on my phone, so I could do the whole process on my computer, but I may still have a phone cache?

I wonder if you could ask google about it, citing GDPR which requires them to actually wipe the ones and zeros.

some device may be syncing (up) its information from local to the cloud, and not downloading before uploading.

I've had this happen with iCloud. Deleted stuff from the server and then it keeps coming back. There was a problem device not getting the memo to delete and kept re-uploading the data. I had to sign out of my iCloud account and sign back in my devices to fix it.