-as of [26 NOVEMBER 2025]-
.
.
Yes! Filerev prioritizes the security of your files with industry-leading best practices.
Here’s how:
Regular Security Audits –
We annually submit the app to a security audit by a neutral third party.
This audit verifies that Filerev follows industry standards defined by OWASP Application Security Verification Standard (ASVS) and further requirements defined by Cloud Application Security Assessment (CASA).
These results are also reviewed by Google as well as the Filerev team.
In addition, we run automated security audits before every update to the Filerev application.
You can view our CASA results here: 2024, 2025.
.
Minimal Data Access –
Filerev accesses only essential file metadata such as file names and sizes and does not download and store your Google Drive file content
The file metadata is stored on secure servers with security practices such as encryption at rest, in-transit encryption, and user isolation, to name a few
.
Data Removal –
We automatically remove your file data after 30 days of inactivity and provide the ability to submit your account and data for deletion.
We also have written guarantees in our privacy policy and terms in regard to how your data is handled
.
The following are a few main points taken from the privacy policy:
We do not and will not sell your information.
We don’t help companies advertise their products to you. (read more)
We offer a free plan and hope you will upgrade to a paid subscription.
Subscriptions are the only way we make money. (read more)
We use a small number of trusted third parties (like Stripe for managing payments) to help provide our products. (read more)
Still want to know more?
You can read reviews about Filerev on Google Workspace Marketplace and the Google Play Store.
Or read what Chrome Unboxed or ZDnet has said.
You can also read more about the Filerev Founder / Creator by looking at Brett Batie’s LinkedIn Profile.
Updated on January 20, 2025
.
Are there plans to support other cloud storage providers?
We plan to offer the same organizational features for all major cloud providers.
If there is specific cloud storage that you would like Filerev to support, please fill out the survey below, and we will notify you when it is available.
Also, submitting your vote below will help us determine which one to support first.
Which cloud provider do you want us to implement first?
Microsoft OneDrive
Apple iCloud
Dropbox
Amazon S3
Amazon Drive
Google Photos
Gmail
Other
Is there specific feature you want for this cloud provider?
.
What makes it a duplicate file?
The duplicate files page in Filerev will show files grouped together where the content is 100% identical.
Filerev accomplishes this by generating a unique fingerprint for each file in your Google Drive account.
The Filerev software can do this without downloading all of your files from Google Drive, and it is what makes Filerev so fast at finding your duplicates.
Since Filerev determines if a file is a duplicate based on its content, the following file metadata can be different, and Filerev will still categorize the file as a duplicate:
File Name
Creation & Modification Date
Storage Used
Thumbnail
File Owner
caution Note:
Filerev is working on adding the feature to view duplicate proprietary Google files such as Google Docs and Google Sheets.
If you would like to be notified when this feature is available, please submit your email here.
Why can the storage usage be different for a duplicate file?
Google used to provide free storage space for photos (that were synced from Google Photos) and Google’s proprietary documents (sheets, docs, slides, etc).
These files that were uploaded when Google storage was free may still be in your account, and they will show storage usage of 0 bytes even though the actual file is larger.
Below is an example of how Filerev will show two files that are identical but are using a different amount of storage in Google Drive.
Google Drive storage used is different that file size
Why are the thumbnails different for my duplicate files?
Most of the time, your duplicate files will have identical thumbnails.
However, Filerev gets your thumbnail images from Google Drive, and Google does not always generate an identical thumbnail for identical files.
Occasionally, Google will decide not to generate a thumbnail at all for a file.
Other times, for file types like videos, it will grab a different frame in the video and generate a different thumbnail.
Even though the thumbnails may differ for duplicate files, you can trust that the duplicate files have identical content.
Why are my duplicate PDFs not showing as duplicates?
Filerev determines whether PDFs are duplicates based strictly on their content.
However, PDFs often contain hidden internal metadata such as the document’s author, unique document identifiers, embedded digital signatures, and software used to create the PDF.
If any of this internal metadata differs—even if the visible content looks identical—Filerev considers these files different.
This approach ensures important distinctions, like digital signatures or different document versions, are not mistakenly grouped together.
To view the internal metadata of your PDFs, you can open the file in Adobe Acrobat Reader, go to File → Document Properties, and check the details under the Description tab.
If your PDFs appear identical but aren’t marked as duplicates, differences in these internal metadata fields are likely the reason
.
Why are my duplicate images not showing as duplicates?
Filerev identifies duplicate images by comparing the exact file data.
This means even small, invisible differences—such as metadata embedded within the image file (e.g., camera details, location data, or software used for editing)—can cause images to have different fingerprints and thus not appear as duplicates.
Visually identical images that have been cropped, resized, or slightly modified also produce different file data, preventing Filerev from marking them as duplicates.
To verify if your images are truly identical, ensure they haven’t been modified in any way, including edits or metadata alterations.
filerev.com
/help/faq/what-are-dups-in-google-drive/
What makes it a duplicate file? | Filerev
4-5 minutes
.
Does Filerev Work with Google Photos or Gmail?
Filerev will display your storage usage in Google Photos and Gmail, as shown below.
Filerev will also show duplicate photos in your Google Drive account.
However, Filerev does not find and delete duplicate files in Google Photos or Gmail.
Some users have found it beneficial to move their photos to Google Drive to control better how photos are organized.
If you are interested, you may like to read the blog post comparing the features of Google Drive and Google photos.
Also, you can read about how to delete duplicate photos in Google Drive and browse your photos and images in Google Drive.
We are actively investigating ways to enable Filerev to scan Google Photos in the future.
You can sign up here to be notified when this potential feature becomes available.
Google Account Storage Usage for Google Drive, Gmail and Google Photos
filerev.com
/help/faq/clean-drive-with-google-photos-gmail/
Does Filerev Work with Google Photos or Gmail? | Filerev
1-1 minutes
.
Troubleshoot: My storage usage doesn’t look right
Occasionally, storage usage in Google Drive does not match reality, and many factors can come into play.
The first place to start is by looking at the storage usage in Google Drive.
Empty Your Trash
Next, verify that you have emptied your Google Drive trash.
The files in your trash count against your storage usage.
Google by default, will also empty your trash automatically after 30 days, but if you recently deleted files, they could still use your storage space by being in your trash.
To empty your trash visit drive.google.com/drive/trash and click the empty trash button on the top right of the screen (screenshot below).
Empty Google Drive Trash
Empty Your Shared Drive Trash
If you have Shared Drives, they each have their own trash that can consume storage space.
To empty the Shared Drive trash in Google Drive, visit your trash (or bin), and then at the top, click the “My Drive” drop-down to select one of the Shared Drives.
Empty Shared Drive Trash
You can also use Filerev to quickly see all the trash for My Drive and each Shared Drive.
Just visit the Files by Category page; at the bottom, you will see a list like the following.
View Each Shared Drive Trash in Filerev
Wait 24 Hours After Deleting Many Files
However, if you have looked at the basics and your storage still doesn’t look right, it could be because Google hasn’t caught up.
When many files are deleted, I have seen it take 24 hours for Google to catch up and properly report your storage usage.
Google will show that your files are deleted, but the storage usage won’t immediately update.
Also, if a lot of files were deleted (moved to the trash) at once, they may not be instantly added to your Google Drive trash as it takes Google time to move the files to the trash.
So, you may want to come back in a day and empty the trash a second time.
Check If Third-Party Apps are Using Space
Next, there are occasions where a lot of storage can be used by third-party applications that can access your Google Drive.
Google has a “feature” where third-party apps can store data in a location only the app can view (it’s called an application data folder).
This means the third-party apps are using your storage, but you can’t actually view the data/files stored.
In Filerev this is shown in an uncategorized section when viewing your storage usage (as shown below).
Uncategorized Storage Usage in Google Drive
If there is a good deal of data in the uncategorized section, you can see if there is an application using that space by going to the Google Drive settings page and then clicking the manage app link on the left side of the screen.
View apps using storage in Google Drive
This will show a list of third-party apps that have been connected to your Google Drive account.
If the app uses any storage space, it will be shown in the description.
Specific app that is using storage in Google Drive
If you decide you would like to remove this data, you can click the options button on the right side or the listed app and click delete hidden app data.
View your Android and iOS Backup Storage Usage
Backing up your Android or iOS settings to Google will also consume storage space in your Google account.
Google backs up your apps, call history, device settings, SMS and MMS.
The amount of storage space these backups consume can be seen by visiting the backups page, selecting a backup, and double-clicking it.
This will show a dialog like the following one.
Android Backup Storage Used in Google Drive
Then, if you would like to free up that storage space, you can click the Delete backup button on the bottom right of that dialog.
Also, the storage used by Android and iOS backups is placed in the uncategorized section when viewing your Google Drive storage usage in Filerev.
Check If this is a Google One account with Shared Storage
If you have a Google One account, your storage will be shared with each Google account.
This shared storage appears under the uncategorized section in Filerev, shown below.
Google One accounts using storage in Google Drive
In this case, you may want to contact other members of your Google One account and have them check their storage usage in Google Drive.
Additional Troubleshooting Steps
If the above options do not help you pinpoint the source of your storage usage, then I recommend you try the following steps to further troubleshoot.
Verify that Google is showing the same storage usage in Google Drive as Filerev shows. https://drive.google.com/settings/storage
If you have very few files in your account, but a lot of storage is being used, you can try downloading your data from Google Takeout.
After you download your data, you can check if there is a folder that contains a lot of data.
The idea is that this will help you determine if another Google service is using your Google Drive storage space.
Contact Google Support as something is not right with your account.
Also, feel free to reach out to me, as I am glad to take a look at your account as well.
If you determine where your storage is being used and it is not mentioned above, please let me know.
That way I can update this list and help everyone who has a similar scenario in their Google account.
filerev.com
/help/faq/troubleshoot-google-drive-storage-usage/
Troubleshoot: My storage usage doesn’t look right | Filerev
5-6 minutes
.
Do you have an affiliate program?
Yes, we have an affiliate program and you can read about it here at: /affiliates
.
Why are there files that I cannot delete in Google Drive?
When using Filerev, you might receive a message like:
Could Not Delete File –
You have read-only permission to this file, and it cannot be removed from your Google Drive account.
Google Drive cannot delete files with read-only permission
or
Could Not Modify –
Failed to retrieve the necessary information to remove this item.
Cannot modify Google Drive file with read-only permission.
This happens when someone shares a file with you but gives you read-only access or you have opened a publicly shared file.
Since you do not have write permission to this file, Google has chosen to prevent you from making any modifications to the file.
However, there is a workaround where you can hide the file from your Google Drive account by finding it in the “shared with me” location, right-clicking the file and selecting remove.
This hides the file from your account, but you technically still have access to the file.
If you open the file again (by going to the direct link), it will reappear in the shared with me folder.
caution Pro tip:
If the delete icon or delete option is disabled on a file in Google Drive, try dragging the file to the trash/bin in the sidebar.
This will often let you remove the “shared with me” files that cannot be removed any other way.
drag and drop file to Google Drive trash
filerev.com
/help/faq/cannot-delete-file-google-drive/
Why are there files that I cannot delete in Google Drive? | Filerev
2-2 minutes
.
Why am I getting “Not approved by Advanced Protection”
When trying to log in to Filerev with your Google Drive account you might receive an error message such as:
Access blocked:
Filerev is not approved by Advanced Protection
This means your Google account uses the Advanced Protected Program, which blocks all third-party access to your Google account, including Filerev.
Turn off Advanced Protection for Gmail Accounts
For standard Gmail (@gmail.com) accounts, you can turn off Advanced Protection by visiting https://myaccount.google.com/advanced-protection/settings and clicking the Unenroll from Advanced Protection button.
If you want to continue to use Advanced Protection you can go back to the same link and turn it back on once you have finished using Filerev.
Turn off Advanced Protection for Google Workspace Accounts
For a Google Workspace account the account administrator can whitelist Filerev.
This is accomplished with the following steps (also documented by Google).
Click the following link to go to Security > Access and data control > API Controls > Manage Third-party app access in your admin account.
Click the Add App link at the top of the table/list and select OAuth App Name Or Client ID.
In the Search Box, type Filerev and select the Search button.
Click on the Select button that is displayed when you mouse over the Filerev name.
Select all checkboxes for the OAuth Client ID’s that are listed and then click the blue select button at the bottom right of the screen.
Select the Trusted: Can access all Google services option and then click the Configure button.
With those steps complete, you will be able to log in to Filerev by from a desktop computer.
If you would like to install the Filerev Android app, you will need to repeat the steps above except on step 2, select Android in the drop down.
filerev.com
/help/faq/not-approved-by-advanced-protection/
Why am I getting “Not approved by Advanced Protection” | Filerev
2-3 minutes
.
Google Drive Video Not Processed
Videos in Google Drive typically show a thumbnail and, when opened, play in the browser.
These videos also have additional details such as duration and the video dimensions.
When a video is processed by Google you will see the highlighted details in Google Drive.
View thumbnail, duration and dimensions in Google Drive when the video has been processed.
Occasionally, Google Drive does not provide any of the above-mentioned details and features for one or more videos in a Google Drive account.
In this case you will receive a message “Video hasn’t been processed for playback yet.
Try again in a few minutes” and will be given the option to download the video instead of play it.
Below is an example of what this looks like in Google Drive.
Missing thumbnail, duration, auto-play when unprocessed video in Google Drive.
Even though the message sounds like Google Drive is processing the file, I’ve often seen unprocessed files that stay like that for years.
In my experience you can help Google Drive recognize that the video needs to be processed by opening the video in Google Drive.
As soon as you attempt to open it (and get the above message), Google seems to realize that it needs to process the file and will start doing that.
This can take Google anywhere from a few minutes to hours to process the file.
Then magically, the thumbnail, video auto-play, video duration and video dimensions will start showing up for the video.
The above scenario directly impacts Filerev’s feature of showing the total duration for all videos in your Google Drive account (or a specific sub-folder).
If your videos have been processed by Google Drive, you will see a summary screen like the following in Filerev.
Note that this screen shows the total duration of all of your videos in Google Drive.
View Duration of all videos in Google Drive.
If some videos have not been processed in Google Drive, then Filerev will show a small warning next to the duration.
Warning if the duration has unprocessed video files in Google Drive
When viewing specific video types the same warning will also show up, if there are any video files that have not been processed.
Warning if a specific file type (MPEG-4) has unprocessed video files in Google Drive.
Then when viewing your Files, you can determine which videos need to be processed and open them.
Just look for the video’s that have a generic thumbnail and no duration.
The second file in the below screenshot is an example of a video file that has not been processed in Google Drive.
Comparison of file view in Filerev for videos that are processed vs videos that are unprocessed in Google Drive
Then click the three dot menu and click open and given some time Google will process the video file.
Open an unprocessed file from Filerev to help Google process them
After the video file has been processed you can rescan your files in Google Drive and Filerev will show the updated duration for the videos.
If the above steps do not work for you, I wrote a more detailed post on this topic that provide a few more troubleshooting steps.
Also, if you are interested in viewing a list of all videos that are unprocessed in your Google Drive account, please signup for the waitlist.
If there is enough demand, I will add it to Filerev
filerev.com
/help/faq/google-drive-video-not-processed/
Google Drive Video Not Processed | Filerev
3-4 minutes
.
.
*👨🔬🕵️♀️🙇♀️*SKETCHES*🙇♂️👩🔬🕵️♂️*
.
.
👈👈👈☜*-[FILEREV] USER GUIDE-* ☞ 👉👉👉
.
.
💕💝💖💓🖤💙🖤💙🖤💙🖤❤️💚💛🧡❣️💞💔💘❣️🧡💛💚❤️🖤💜🖤💙🖤💙🖤💗💖💝💘
.
.
*🌈✨ *TABLE OF CONTENTS* ✨🌷*
.
.
🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥*we won the war* 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥
Leave a Reply