How to Recover Deleted Files from Recycle Bin Windows 8 Computers?

How to recover deleted files from Recycle Bin Windows 8 computers? Get four ways to restore deleted files Windows 8 and other tips about Recycle Bin recovery on this page.

Penny

By Penny / Updated on April 2, 2024

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Where do deleted files go on Windows 8?

Windows 8.1 deleted files

   
   
   
       

I have accidentally deleted some files from size: huge, size: large, size: medium, size: small. I am wondering if any of you guys know how to recover those files? I appreciate your help and sorry for the inconvenience.

- A user from Microsoft Community

Where do deleted files go on Windows 8 computers after accidental/intentional deletion?

As you can see, if you accidentally deleted files from Windows 8.0/8.1 operating system like the above user, you can recover the deleted files from the Recycle Bin because the Recycle Bin is a temporary storage place for the recently deleted files.

empty-recycle-bin

However, it’s impossible for the above user to restore the huge/large deleted files if the deleted files are too large or much bigger than the storage size of the Recycle Bin.

Similarly, there’s no way for you to restore permanently files from the Recycle Bin after executing the following operations.  

Emptied the Recycle Bin manually or using the elevated command prompt.
Pressed “Shift + Delete” to remove some files.

Please be calm! You still have a chance to restore deleted files Windows 8 because your deleted/lost files might be on your PCs as long as they haven’t been overwritten by new data.

Therefore, please avoid adding new data to your computers after data loss.

Case A. How to recover deleted files from Recycle Bin Windows 8 directly? 

If you’re in this part, which suggests you deleted these files recently. Let’s perform how to recover deleted files from Recycle Bin Windows 8 computers directly.

Step 1. Open the Recycle Bin in Windows and locate the files you want to restore.

locate-deleted-file-in-recycle-bin

Step 2. Right-click on your selected files, and “Restore” them to the previously saved path.

click-restore

Case B. How to restore permanently deleted files in Windows 8 computers?

After figuring out where do permanently deleted files go on Windows 8 computers, you have no choice but to restore files from backups or use top-rated data recovery software for Windows to recover them.

Solution 1. Recover permanently deleted files from Backup and Restore

Backup and Restore is good at files/folders backup. Released in Windows 7 OS, Backup and Restore could be the most compatible Windows feature. How to restore permanently deleted files in Windows 8 via it? Let’s show how it works.

Step 1. Open Control Panel by searching it in the search bar. Then go to System and Security and click the “Backup and Restore (Windows 7)” button.

windows-backup-and-restore

Step 2. Click the “Restore my files” button.

windows-backup-restore-my-files

Step 3. Select the “Browse for files” option to locate and restore deleted files Windows 8.

browse-for-files-or-folders

Then you can restore them to the original location or to a new saved path.

Solution 2. Recover permanently deleted files via File History

When it comes to Windows 8 computers, free File History is necessary to be mentioned because this feature first appeared in Windows 8.0 operating system.

If you’ve opened Control Panel > System and Security to activate File History before, you can restore the deleted, lost or damaged original documents from backups.

Notes:✎...   
After turning on File History, you can recover the latest version of a Word document by finding the previous version of Word documents.
File History only can make copies of files in Documents, Music, Pictures, Videos, Desktop folders, and OneDrive offline files stored on your PCs.
After the backup process, you’re even allowed to save backups in the external hard drive or cloud drive.

Step 1. Search “Control Panel” in the search bar and open it. Then click the “System and Security” button.

system-and-security

Step 2. Locate File History and select the “Restore your files with File History” option.

file-history

Step 3. Click the “Restore personal files” button.

restore-personal-files

Step 4. Click the “Restore” button to retrieve your selected files to the original location.

locate-deleted-excel-file-restore

If you want to change the saved path, you can right-click on “Restore” and select the “Restore to” option.

Solution 3. Recover the deleted/lost files with data recovery software

How to recover deleted files from Recycle Bin Windows 8 computers with ease? Utilize data recovery software like MyRecover to address your issues.

This highly-praised tool benefits from rich industry experience, powerful features, and user-friendly design. Let’s get an overview of it.

★Tips:   
Recover the deleted/lost files from HDD, USB, SD cards, and other storage devices.  
Recover 200+ types of data: Word, Excel, PPT, Photos, Videos, Audio, Compressed files, and so on. 
Keep the original path, filename, and format for the deleted files.
During scanning, search your targeted files by typing their filenames in the search bar or wait to find all the deleted and other lost files on your computers after running Quick Scan and Deep Scan automatically.
Support NTFS, exFAT, FAT32, and ReFS file systems in Windows 7, 8, 10, 11, and Windows Server.

Deep industry experience in the field of data recovery and advanced technology support provides a guarantee for hard disk data recovery. So why don’t you download it on your Windows 8 computers to check?  

Download SoftwareWin 11/10/8/7/Server
Secure Download

Step 1. After launching the utility on your PC. Hover the mouse over the drive and click Scan to scan.

select-location-to-scan

Step 2. Search or wait to view all the deleted and other missing files.

scanning-drive

Step 3. Go to the Deleted files folder > Recycle Bin. Then click “Recover x files” and save them in a new location.

select-recycle-bin-click-recover

Bonus tips: Recycle Bin shows empty but it not!

Recycle Bin shows empty but it is not! How to fix it? Use the elevated command prompt to reset the Recycle Bin.

Type “cmd” in the search bar and select “Run as administrator” to open it. Then enter rd /s /q C:\$Recycle.bin” in the window and hit “Enter” to empty the deleted files of your selected drive in the Recycle Bin.

cmd-reset-recycle-bin

If your Recycle Bin icon is invisible to you, you can restore Recycle Bin icon.

If you can ensure your files were not deleted from this temporary storage device, try to show hidden files, folders, and drives or customize the storage size of it to view files in the Recycle Bin.

Wrapping up

This tutorial lists corresponding solutions on how to recover deleted files from Recycle Bin Windows 8 directly and how to restore permanently deleted files in Windows 8.

To avoid unnecessary steps, you’d better figure out where do deleted files go in the first part. After that, you can restore deleted files Windows 8 computers more efficiently.

If you need, the relevant tips about the Recycle Bin could give you a hand in the future. Moreover, it’s necessary for everyone to make regular backups using Windows features or free backup software, AOMEI Backupper

Penny
Penny · Editor
Penny works as an editor at AOMEI Technology, while she's a tester and editor for AOMEI Data Recovery Tools. She enjoys helping users with data recovery issues on Windows and iPhones using simple and practical solutions. Outside of work, she has a strong affection for pets, particularly giant pandas.