Deleted chats remain accessible via direct URL in Google AI Studio

Google AI Studio
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1

Hello everyone,

I want to report a concerning issue about how Google AI Studio handles chat deletions. After creating a chat and then deleting it through the AI Studio interface (which also removes the corresponding file from Drive), I would expect it to be fully gone.

The problem: If I bookmarked the unique URL of the chat before deleting it, I can still access the entire conversation at any time (even more than two weeks later). The chat no longer appears in AI Studio or in Drive, yet remains fully accessible via its direct URL. And not just passively, the chat remains fully interactive. I can ask new questions and continue the conversation as if it had never been “deleted”.

Why is this concerning?

  • It suggests a partial or “soft delete”. We think the chat is gone, but it’s actually still stored somewhere on Google’s servers.
  • I’m not especially surprised that Google keeps the data… What bothers me is the way it’s hidden from the user while still being accessible/functional if you know the URL.
  • This creates a false sense of deletion. From a user perspective, the chat looks gone. In reality, it’s not… And worse, it’s still active. That’s a serious problem from both a UX and privacy standpoint.

How to reproduce the bug:

  1. Create a new chat in Google AI Studio
  2. Copy or bookmark the chat’s unique URL
  3. Delete the chat from the AI Studio interface (the file is also removed from Drive)
  4. Return to the saved URL: the entire chat is still accessible and functional

Users deserve a clear, verifiable way to ensure that deleted chats are truly erased from Google’s infrastructure, not just made invisible through the UI. Anything else feels misleading and raises real concerns about privacy.

Thank you in advance for any clarification or official update from the Google team.

1 Like
3

I just tested this on my own profile, and indeed, after deleting a chat, it remains accessible via its direct URL.

I decided to run a couple more tests based on your findings:

  1. Access from a different account on the same PC: I asked my brother to log into his Google account and access Google AI Studio on my PC (where my account is also typically logged in). When he tried to open the direct URL for my deleted chat using his account, it redirected back to my primary account session, and the chat opened successfully.

  2. Access from a different account in Incognito: I then tested using an incognito browser window, logged in only with my brother’s account (ensuring no other accounts were authorized in that session). In this case, it seemed to work as expected. I received a message indicating that the prompt was unavailable due to unauthorized access.

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Written with the help of Gemini <3.

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Hi @Pym,

Welcome to forum, thanks for flagging the issue. I was able to replicate the same, I will report back to team regarding the issue.

Thank you!