Desktop for Windows Help Center

Google Desktop creates cached copies (snapshots) of your email, files, and other items each time you view them. These cached copies are stored on your computer's hard drive. As a result, you can often use Google Desktop to find items you deleted after installing Desktop. Here's how:

Enter your search terms and click Search Desktop. If the result you're looking for has been deleted, and you click the link to the live version, you'll see an error message. To access the cached copy instead, click the cached link beneath the result.

If you have the latest version of Google Desktop installed, you can configure Google Desktop to prevent deleted items from appearing in your Desktop search results. To do so, go to your Google Desktop Preferences page and select the option labeled 'Remove Deleted Items.' Don't forget to click Save Preferences when you're done.