9 methods to recover files deleted from recycle bin

The operating system consists of a recycling bin from the very start. This bin is used to hold temporarily deleted folders and files. It helps a lot of users to quickly recover files that were mistakenly deleted. So whenever one has lost any folder, the recycling bin is the first place to look into it. 

There are various ways through which you can recover deleted files from the Recycle Bin. Every method has its own advantage and disadvantage. The article below consists of everything you need to know in order to recover any deleted file from the recycle bin. 

Method 1: Locate files in Recyle-bin restore

The recycle bin can keep the files inside of it for a certain period of time e.g. 14 – 60 days so you can recover them through the following steps.

1. Double click on the recycle bin icon on the desktop.

2. Locate and select the deleted file or folder that is to be restored. 
3. Right-click on the selected item and click on “restore”. 

4. Another similar method to restore the deleted file is to go to the manage tab and click on “restore the selected item”.

This method will only work in some cases. If you have cleared the recycling bin or if you have removed data by using “shift+ delete” keys then method 1 will not work.  

Method 2: Download third-party software

In order to recover permanently deleted files from the recycle bin in Windows, you have to use a professional data recovery software e.g. EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard.

Once you have downloaded this software you should follow the following steps.

1. Open EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard.
2. Take your mouse cursor the the “Recycle Bin” option under the “location” section.
3. Click on scan.

4. The software will start a quick scan for all the deleted files or folders. 
5. Once the scan is done you can use the “Filter” feature to click on a specific type e.g. Pictures, videos or Word, etc. 

6. After you have located the files o folders that you want to restore, select the target files and click on “Recover”. 

Go to your recovery folder and check if your files have recovered for you. If not move on to the next step.

Method 3: Through Windows File History

If you are smart and lucky enough that you have already created a backup of your deleted files or folders through “Windows File History” on your PC, then you don’t need to worry because you can easily recover your data. The following method will only work on Windows 8/10. Following are the steps you need to know in order to recover deleted files.

1. Go to Control Panel.
2. Click on “File History”.

3. From the left panel, click on “Restore personal files” in order to open your backup files.

4. By using the left and right arrows, choose the files you want to recover and then click on “restore”. 

Following are the steps of the same method but for Windows 7.

1. Go to the Start Button and click on “Control Panel”.
2. Select “System and security”.

3. Click on “Backup and Restore”, and select “Restore my files”.

4. After this follow the instructions and restore the deleted files which were not in the recycle bin. 

Method 4: Recover from Previous Version

Sometimes when the recycle bin fails to recycle some of your deleted files or folders you may try to find them from its previous version by following the steps given below. 

1. Open Windows File Explorer on your PC.
2. Go to the folder that used to have the deleted content.
3. Right click on it and then select “properties”.

4. Click on “previous version” and choose a version before the date you deleted the file.
5. Click on “restore”.

After following the above-mentioned method you can open your restored file or folder and check for its recovery. 

Method 5: Fix corrupted Recycle-bin

Sometimes the recycle bin gets corrupted and you lose your files or documents. In order to fix this problem you need to follow the steps given below:

1. On the desktop, right-click and click on “personalize”.

2. Now from the left-side panel, click on “themes”.

3. From the right-side panel, click on “desktop icon settings”.

4. Select the “recycle bin” and click on “restore default”.
5. Click on “apply”.

In this way, you can recover files even if your recycle bin was corrupted before. After completing all the above steps, look for your recovered files.

Method 6: Use Windows File Recovery Tool 

Another way to recover deleted files or folders from the recycle bin is via Windows File Recovery Tool. Windows File Recovery tool is a command-line utility from Windows which helps in recovering files from emptied recycle bins. This is only available in the May 2020 update of Windows 10 or new windows. Following are the steps that will help to recover deleted files from emptied recycle bin via the windows file recovery tool. 

1. From the Microsoft Store, download and install the Windows File Recovery tool. 

2. Click on “get” and let the application install. 
3. After it is installed, press “Win+X” and select Windows Terminal (Admin) from the lists that will show up. (Alternatively) You can launch the Command Prompt as an administrator by pressing “Ctrl+R”, typing cmd, and pressing “Ctrl+Shift+Enter”.
4. For checking if the utility has been properly installed or not, type “winfr” in the utility. This will also provide you with a list of switches that you can use. 

5. After that, type the following command in the terminal : 

winfr C: D: /regular /n \$Recycle.Bin\%SID%

This command will help to recover the files back to the D drive. 

You can use this to scan whichever path you want to scan by just changing the command. Just know that the SID for every user is different. If you are unaware of what your SID is then you can use the command given below in order to find out your user’s SID. 

wmic useraccount get name,sid

Method 7: Recover via Disk Drill

Another easy method to restore deleted files from the recycle bin is via Disk Drill. Disk Drill application is available for Windows in three versions i.e. free, pro and enterprise. By using a disk drill you can restore up to 500 MB of free data by using the following method. 

1. Download and install Disk Drill from its website. 
2. Once it is downloaded, you have to launch Disk Drill and command it to analyze the storage device where the files were located before being deleted. You can do this by clicking on the “search for lost data” button next to it. 
3. Mostly, the drive which contains the operating system and all related system files i.e. system drive is marked with the letter C, while the rest of the storage devices are marked as D, E, F, G, and so on. 

4. Once the scan is done you will have all the list of the files and folders that were deleted. 
5. You can choose the files that you want to restore and after selecting them click on the “restore” button. 

6. After this, the app will allow you to choose the location where you want to restore the deleted files. 

7. Once you have located the recovery directory the recovery process will begin. It will not take much time and you will have your files recovered. 

Use disk drill if none of the above methods work for you.

Method 8:  Use command prompt

Another way to recover deleted files from the recycle bin is with the Command Prompt. This will help you recover if you follow the steps given below. 

1. On your Windows machine, open a Command Prompt. 
2. Type chkdsk “drive letter”:/f and press Enter.

chkdsk D: /f

3. Now, until the command line reappears press Y. 
4. Type the drive letter and press Enter. 
5. Enter the following command :

ATTRIB -H -R -S /S /D D:*.*

With the help of this command, the folders which were hidden or deleted will reappear. The names of the files will be displayed in a generic form. 

Method 9: Recover from OneDrive

OneDrive is a cloud backup tool that is already present in Windows. If OneDrive is enabled, it backs up all the files that are stored in your Desktop, Documents, and Pictures folders and also all the files that you have placed inside your OneDrive folder. You can recover files from OneDrive by the following method. 

1. Go to https://onedrive.com/ 
2. Log in with your username and password. 
3. Go to the folder where your files were stored. 
4. With the help of your mouse cursor select all the files that you want to recover by clicking them on the checkbox that will appear in the top-right corner. 
5. Click on the download button to restore the deleted files to your device. 
6. After completing all the steps, look for recovered files.

These are all the methods you would need in order to recover the deleted files from your recycle bin. We hope one of these solutions worked for you. Check out more useful guides on our website.