How to be sure that a hosted feature layer contains its data and is not referencing another item's data?

[BMCGIS]

I'm trying to clean up some AGOL content produced by a consultant. I have 3 items with the same name. One is a shapefile, one is a file geodatabase and one is a hosted feature layer (+ service definition).

Shapefile: 125 MB
GDB: 84 MB
Feature layer: 524 MB

I *think* that the shapefile and file geodatabase were initial attempts to use the data that did not pan out and can be deleted. The hosted feature layer is definitely in use in the final mapping products. I have set the shapefile and GDB to Owner sharing and the final public StoryMap has no sharing errors.

However, I know that you can create a public hosted feature layer that references a private item. So I am worried that if I delete the shapefile and GDB, I might find out the hard way that the feature layer was referencing one of them.

Is there any way to be sure of this other than deleting? Does the fact that the hosted feature layer is 524 MB conclusively indicate that it contains its own data?

[NicoleJohnson]

I have a few ideas (I definitely wouldn't rely on the size alone):

• Have you looked at the item pages' "details" area? For example, I have a joined hosted feature layer created from 1) a hosted feature layer (geometry) and 2) a hosted table. When I look at the joined hosted feature layer's item page, it tells me which layers are involved to make the join. Similarly, if I look at the table's item page, it tells me that I have a join that's using the data.
• You could also just try sending the items to the recycle bin? Once they're in there, items that reference them should cease working (insofar as that specific data is concerned), at least that's been my experience.
• You could bring everything into Pro and try the Table Compare or Feature Compare tools to see if they even contain the same data.

[BMCGIS]

Thank you for these suggestions! I'll check the out and let you know. I wasn't sure if the recycle bin would work like that, so thanks for the confirmation.

[BMCGIS]

Thanks again for your ideas. I did bring all three items into Pro and was able to verify that they weren't the same versions of the data. Then I sent the shapefile and GDB to the recycling bin and everything still seems to be working properly. And I downloaded copies of the shapefile and GDB just in case.