To be clear. It was in a very specific circumstance, which I would not expect most people to encounter. I created a shared folder on my PC, and then populated that folder with files from my MacBook. For some unknown reason the Mac version of Google Drive failed to upload the files, even though it said it had completed syncing. It was checking for the files online that alerted me to the problem and prompted me to make copies.

If you accidentally delete a file on Google Drive, you can recover it from trash – just like with Windows. However as Google drive never copied the files in the first place, when it synced the files they seemed to just disappear from the MacBook – they may have been moved to the trash – but as I had copies I didn’t bother checking.

So, this is a Google Drive on the Mac issue. I’ve used Google Drive on the PC for many years with no problems. However, as I now swap between the Mac and the PC I’ve decided that I can’t rely on Google Drive. I’ll check the original article text and re-emphasize those points – thanks.