How to Find Deleted Files on Windows 11/10 Computer

During your daily routine on your computer, you may unconsciously duplicate some files while you are coming across the kinds of files and folders you have used. It is a wise choice to delete the duplicate ones when you don’t need them for more space and room for new and more important files. But hold on, whether you delete files that you still need?

Then, you may wonder where these deleted files go on your computer? Here comes this passage, giving you a detailed guide about how to find deleted files, like photos, videos, documents, and audio on a Windows computer, as well as effective ways to recover deleted data on Windows PC.

How to find deleted files on Windows 11/10 computer

How to locate delete files on computer from the Recycle Bin
You must have noticed that there is a Recycle Bin on the desktop of your computer, which helps temporarily save the files you delete from your computer. The files are saved here for as long as you like, and you can choose to recover and restore them to their original locations. The Recycle Bin safely stores your deleted files, just in case you change your mind and want to recover and use them again.

How to locate delete files on computer via Undo function
You can also try the Undo function on Windows computer, which allows its users to undo any actions, including deleting the incorrect files. Please check its prerequisites below and follow the steps to recover deleted files using Undo function. 

• You have a clear idea of which folder you delete the files from.
• Please be noted that only recent deletions can be undone.
• The undo history can only be kept unless you haven’t logged out, restarted, or shut down the computer.

Step 1. Go to the folder in which the deleted files are located in Windows File Explorer.

Step 2. Right-click in the blank area of the folder to open the menu > Click Undo Move to get your deleted files back.

Optionally, you can also press both the Ctrl and z keys to recover deleted files immediately after you delete them.

While it is more suggested to backup your Windows system regularly via a professional tool like AOMEI Backupper to avoid unnecessary data loss.

How to find deleted files after being deleted from the Recycle Bin
What if you empty the recycle bin or delete the file permanently from the Recycle Bin? Then, how to locate deleted files on computer? The answer may let you down. Once you empty the Recycle Bin, the computer refers to the location of the deleted files. Therefore, never go too far if you don’t know for sure whether you still need the files in the Recycle Bin.

Luckily, if you have emptied the Recycle Bin, you can recover deleted files using a professional data recovery tool mentioned in Way 2 in the next part.

How to recover permanently deleted files on computer

It is much easier to delete files from your computer than restore them back. If the deleted files have been completely moved from your Recycle Bin, then, two ways to recover permanently deleted files in Windows are available for you to get them recovered.  

Way 1. Recover deleted files from a file history backup

If you have set up and enabled the inbuilt file backup function in Windows 10, chances are that you can recover deleted files from a file history backup.

Start 1. Start the Control Panel on your computer > Choose System and Security.

Step 2. Go to the main page of File History > Click Restore personal files. File History will display the contents of the latest snapshot.

Step 3. Keeping the CTRL key pressed while clicking on the files and folders to selectively choose them > Click the green button to begin the recovery process.

This tool could also help you restore permanently deleted files in Windows 10/11.

Way 2. Easily restore permanently deleted files via ADR for Windows

As mentioned before, if you delete certain files or empty files from the Recycle Bin, you may have difficulty finding and recovering them back. Luckily, you can rely on the professional data rescue software, MyRecover, to restore permanently deleted data from any folder in HDD/SSD in Windows 11/10/8/7 on different brands of computer, like HP, Lenovo, and so on with a high recovery rate.

It supports recovering more than 200 types of data, including photos, videos, mp3/flac/wav/AAC audio files, and so on. And it enables you to restore deleted files with their filenames, directories, and formats intact.

Click the icon below to download the powerful tool on your computer, and restore files in three simple steps.

Step 1. Open ADR for Windows on your computer > Choose the disk that you deleted files from > Hover the mouse over the drive and click Scan to scan.

Step 2. Wait for the scanning process to complete. It will not take you much time to scan all deleted files from the disk.

Step 3. Click each folder to browse the deleted files and choose the files you’d like to recover > Click Recover x files to get the deleted files back > Choose a destination to save the files, and the restore process will be finished in seconds.

Conclusion

That’s all for how to find deleted files on Windows 11/10 computer. After you delete files from your computer, you can easily find them in the Recycle Bin or get them back by performing the Undo function. If you have emptied the Recycle Bin but intend to recover some of your deleted files, ADR for Windows can give you a hand. If this guide helps you, please share it with others.