I deleted files by mistake, what now?

You're having a bad time rigth now, I know how that feels.

If you've accidentally deleted files, here's what you can do to recover them.

Solutions

Check cloud trash

# Some providers have trash
rclone cleanup remote: --dry-run

# If you see a list of deleted files, you can restore them in the provider's web interface.

Restore from backup

rclone copy remote:backup remote:restored

Check versioning

rclone backend versioning remote:

Check cache

# You might have cached copies locally
ls ~/.cache/rclone/

Contact support

Contact cloud support immediately, some providers can recover within hours.

Act fast - recovery window is small

Common causes

Accidental Deletion

Using sync when you meant copy is the most common mistake. Sync deletes files at the destination that don't exist in the source.

# ❌ Wrong: sync deletes files at destination not in source
rclone sync /empty-folder gdrive:important-files  # Deletes everything!

# ✅ Fix: use copy for backups (never deletes)
rclone copy /photos gdrive:backup

# ✅ Prevention: always dry-run sync first
rclone sync /photos gdrive:backup --dry-run

Misconfigured Filters

A filter typo can exclude everything, making rclone think the source is empty and delete all destination files.

# ❌ Wrong: typo excludes everything, sync sees empty source
rclone sync /photos gdrive:backup --include "*.jgp"  # Typo: jgp instead of jpg

# ❌ Wrong: exclude pattern too broad
rclone sync /data gdrive:backup --exclude "*"  # Excludes everything!

# ✅ Fix: test filters with ls first
rclone ls /photos --include "*.jpg"  # Verify files are matched

# ✅ Prevention: use --dry-run to see what would be deleted
rclone sync /photos gdrive:backup --include "*.jpg" --dry-run

Unexpected Directory Changes

Syncing from a wrong or empty directory wipes out your backup because rclone sees no files to keep.

# ❌ Wrong: syncing from wrong/empty directory
cd /wrong/path
rclone sync . gdrive:backup  # Empty dir = delete everything at dest!

# ❌ Wrong: mount not ready, syncs empty mountpoint
rclone sync /mnt/external gdrive:backup  # Drive not mounted = empty!

# ✅ Fix: use absolute paths
rclone sync /home/user/photos gdrive:backup

# ✅ Prevention: check source has files first
rclone ls /home/user/photos | head  # Verify source isn't empty
rclone sync /home/user/photos gdrive:backup --max-delete 10  # Limit damage