No option to empty Recycle Bin Windows 10? This passage shares four ways with you to solve this problem. Meanwhile, thereโs data recovery software and relevant data loss prevention tips.
Problems with deleting files in Windows 10 because there’s no option to empty recycle them (its icon grayed out). I cannot get the Recycle Bin to my desktop, either. Because when I tick the Recycle Bin box in the Desktop icon settings, it doesn’t change anything and this box is again off. The same happens when I try to change the property of Recycle Bin (C:\$RECYCLE.BIN). Besides, SFC, CHKDSK, and folder troubleshooter helped nothing. Is there any remedy to solve this issue?
- A user from Microsoft Community
Plenty of users often choose to empty their Recycle Bin to release disk space. However, when you’re going to empty the Recycle Bin, some of you could find your Recycle Bin icon becomes greyed out or this temporary storage place cannot automatically cycle the deleted files.
In this scenario, how to remove Recycle Bin from desktop because there’s no option to empty Recycle Bin Windows 10.
Users who don’t have admin rights cannot remove files from their Recycle Bin. Besides, if your Recycle Bin is corrupted, it’s also impossible for you to empty the Recycle Bin.
If there’s no option to empty Recycle Bin Windows 10, please try the following fixes.
Desktop icon settings is a part of Windows Settings. This feature not only can help you show, hide, or resize desktop icons, but also can restore default.
Step 1. Press “Win + I” to open Windows Settings. Then click the “Personalization” button.
Step 2. Click the “Themes” button.
Step 3. Select the “Desktop icon settings” option.
Step 4. Tick the Recycle Bin icon and the “Restore Default” button. Please remember to click Apply > OK.
After that, you can see if the recently deleted files in the Recycle Bin have been emptied or not.
If the above solution cannot help you out, you can try to empty Recycle Bin in Windows using Windows Settings. After finding Temporary files, you’re ready to follow the steps below. Let’s perform how to remove Recycle Bin from desktop via Temporary files.
Step 1. Press “Win + I” to open Windows Settings. Then click the “System” button.
Step 2. Under the Storage tab, click the “Temporary files” button and open it.
Step 3. On the Temporary files window, tick “Empty Recycle Bin” and tap the “Remove files” button.
No option to empty Recycle Bin Windows 10? Why don't you perform a clean boot to isolate the source of this problem?
A clean boot starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs, so you can check whether the background program is interfering with your deletion or not.
Step 1. Press “Win + R” to open the Run box, and type “msconfig” in the window. Then press “OK” to open the System Configuration window.
Step 2. Under the General tab, select “Selective Startup” and uncheck the “Load startup items” option.
Step 3. Under the Services tab, check the Hide all Microsoft services box. Then click Disable all > OK.
Step 4. Under the Startup tab, click the “Open Task Manager” button. Then right-click on each item and Disable them one by one.
Step 5. Go back to the System Configuration window, then click Apply > OK to save your changes.
Your permanently deleted files could appear after deleting from a damaged Recycle Bin. To fix your corrupted Recycle Bin, you can refer to the following steps to reset Recycle Bin using the elevated command prompt.
Step 1. Type “cmd” in the search bar and click “Run as administrator” to open the command prompt window.
Step 2. Type “rd /s /q C:\$Recycle.bin” in the window and press “OK” or hit “Enter” to start the process. You can also replace the local disk C drive with your needed drive.
Regrets are unavoidable after deletion. After removing files from the Recycle Bin, what can you do to recover emptied Recycle Bin?
If you’ve created backups before, there’s no need for you to be concerned about how to recover deleted files from Recycle Bin after empty.
Alternatively, professional data recovery software like MyRecover has made it possible to restore permanently deleted files from Recycle Bin. This utility can exempt you from complicated backups and try its best to recover data as much as possible.
Download MyRecover on your Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, or Windows Server computers to get your permanently deleted files back!
Step 1. Launch MyRecover on your PC, and hover the mouse over the partition that contains the files you want. Then click Scan.
Step 2. Locate your desired files by Name, Date, Type, Size, or Path. You can also wait to view all the files and other missing files after Quick Scan and Deep Scan.
Step 3. Go to the Deleted Files/Other Missing Files folder, and click “Recover x files” to get your selected files back. Please remember to store these recovered files in another path.
If there’s no option to empty Recycle Bin Windows 10, please refer to the above content to remove files from your Recycle Bin. Meanwhile, there’re some related questions and answers for you.
Sometimes, shortcuts also can bring inconvenience for users. So how to remove desktop shortcuts ? Try to delete shortcuts from desktop directly. If it fails, you could add/remove shortcuts from desktop using the Desktop icon settings.
A corrupted Recycle Bin, misconfigured permissions, cloud syncing services, or the presence of malware could cause the desktop icon reappears after deleting.
If you want to prevent data loss at the source, it’s time for you to create the regular File, Disk, Partition, or System Backup using free backup software for Windows.