# ownCloud Administrators Manual

# Introduction

The ownCloud server stores deleted files in a temporary area in the event that the file was inadvertently deleted and/or needs to be restored.

## Expiry of deleted files

There are two instances in which ownCloud will automatically permanently remove a deleted file.

### Disk Utilization

To prevent a user from running out of disk space, the ownCloud deleted files app will not utilize more than 50% of the currently available free space for deleted files. If the deleted files exceed this limit, ownCloud deletes the oldest files until it gets below this limit.

### Age

By default, deleted files remain in the trash bin for 30 days. This can be configured using the trashbin_retention_obligation parameter in the config.php file. Files older than the configured value (or default 30 days) will be permanently deleted. ownCloud checks the age of the files each time a new file is moved to the deleted files bin.