How to Recover Deleted Folder Without Effort [3 Useful Ways]

People often put their important documents in a folder so that they can find, browse and sort them easily. However, for different reasons, important folders sometimes can be deleted or disappear. The case mentioned above is very common and users would like to know how do I recover permanently deleted folder. Don’t panic, this article will give you some easy answers.

What causes folder loss?

Before knowing how to recover deleted folder from PC, let’s learn some common causes of folder loss so you can avoid data loss in the future. What causes folder loss? You can check according to the scenarios as follow:

Accidental deletion: It is common that users may delete their folders by mistake during using them. For this, you can go to Recycle Bin to see if it is there.

Formatted hard drive: Once your hard drive is formatted, the folders and files in it will be deleted as well.

Corrupted hard disk: If your hard disk is corrupted or crashed because of different errors, the folders in it will get lost.

Whichever reason your folder was lost, you don't have to worry too much about it. The following 3 methods can solve most of the folder loss problems and you can try each of them until your folder is successfully recovered.

How to recover deleted folder: 3 ways here

How to recover deleted folder on Windows 10/11/8/7? Here we prepared 3 effective ways and detailed steps for them.

Way 1. Recover deleted folder with command prompt

Command prompt is a recovery method without software, which can help you access your folder. However, it is the most complex way to recover folders and files. If you know something about PC, you can try this method by following the steps below:

1. Tap the Windows and X keys at the same time, then choose Windows PowerShell (Admin) > Run as administrator.

2. Input the command chkdsk #: /r (replace # with the letter of your storage device). If it asks if you want to “convert lost chains to files”, select Y.

3. Input the command attrib -h -r -s /s /d #:*.* (replace # with the letter of your storage device) to make the hidden folder normal.

This method only works for the situation where your folder is not really deleted, and is hidden or read-only instead. If your folder has been deleted unfortunately, you can refer to the following 2 methods.

Way 2. Recover deleted folder via a Microsoft official data recovery tool

If you really deleted your folder and want to know how to recover deleted folder from desktop, maybe a third-party tool can help you. Microsoft provides an official data recovery tool - Windows File Recovery, which is a command-line tool without a graphic user interface. If you want a tool with a clear graphic user interface, you can try WinfrGUI and it is easier to use.

Here is the guideline to use Windows File Recovery:

1. Go to the Microsoft store to Get Windows File Recovery and install it on your PC.

2. Find it in the Windows menu, and Run as administrator.

3. Run PowerShell or Command Prompt likewise, then input the command:

winfr source-drive: destination-drive: [/mode] [/switches]

4. After running the command above, input Y to start the recovery task. If it still cannot recover your folder, you can add a /r switch to the command like:

winfr C: D:/r /n \Users\\Documents\xyz.docx.

⇒ Note: Windows File Recovery only supports Windows 10, version 2004 and above. So if you want to know how to recover deleted folder in Windows 7/8, you can refer to the Way 3 as follow.

Way 3. Recover deleted folder with a free Windows data recovery tool (Easiest)

Since using command line is not easy for non-technical computer users, we prepare another easier tool - MyRecover. It can work on all Windows operating systems including Windows 11/10/8/7/Server. What’s more, it has a clear graphic user interface. Compared with command line tool, MyRecover has many prominent functions like:

● Recover deleted data from USB flash drive, hard drive, SD card, etc.
● Perfectly compatible with Windows 11/10/8/7/Server, and different Windows file systems like NTFS, exFAT, Fat32, ReFS.
● Fully scan to find your deleted and lost files.
● Support to recover 200+ types of data like photos, videos, audios, emails, Word, PPT, PDF, etc.
● Support to recover folders that are lost in any situation.

Download this tool by clicking this button and install it on your PC. Then follow the easy steps below to recover deleted folder without effort:

1. Run MyRecover. Hover the mouse over the drive saved deleted files before, and click Scan.

3. Then you can see your deleted files and other missing files after Quick Scan/Deep Scan automatically.

4. Next, check the scanning result. Select a new location to store your recovered folder. After that, click on the Recover X files button to begin recovering your folder.

Bonus tip: How to protect files and folders

Though there are some effective solutions for data recovery, data loss can be a terrible problem for users. So you need to protect your files and folders better. For this, we provides some tips for you here:

Create backups for your files and folders regularly. It will be easier for you to recover them if you lose them. You can choose to use an external hard drive, USB flash drive, or a professional backup tool like AOMEI Backupper.

Use antivirus software. It can protect your files and folders from viruses and malware attacks effectively.

If you feel there is something wrong with your computer, like abnormal noise, you need to stop using the computer and backup your files and folders at once.

Conclusion

That’s all about how to recover deleted folder. You can choose to use command-line tool or an easier data recovery tool like MyRecover. It provides a user-friendly interface and you can recover data with simple steps. What’s more, you’d better protect your files and folders by backup or other useful methods.