Where to Find Deleted Files on Windows 10 And How to Recover

This tutorial solves the problem - Where to find deleted items in Windows 10? How to recover files from Recycle Bin? What to do when deleted files cannot be found in Recycle Bin?

Where to find deleted files on Windows 10?

Where to find recently deleted files on Windows 10? Don't worry, files deleted on Windows 10 computers are usually stored in Recycle Bin temporarily. The Recycle Bin is one of the system folders in the Windows operating system, and it is the last line of defense against users deleting files.

Recycle Bin is mainly used to store various files such as documents, folders, pictures, shortcuts, and other files that are temporarily deleted by users. Files stored in the Recycle Bin still take up disk space and can be recovered. If you don't empty the Recycle Bin, deleted files will always be kept here.

How to recover deleted files from Recycle Bin

After knowing where to find deleted documents on PC, let's see how to recover deleted files from Recycle Bin.

Step 1. Open Recycle Bin.

Double-click on the Recycle Bin icon on your desktop to open it.

Step 2. Find the file and restore.

Find the files you deleted and right-click them to select Restore.

✎Notes:
- If you can‘t find Recycle Bin icon on the desktop, you can work out where to find trash bin on Windows 10 with the following 2 methods.
- Press Win + E keys together to open File Explorer and type “recycle bin” in the address bar. And press Enter to open Recycle Bin directly.
- Hold Win +R key simultaneously to open the Run box, paste “explorer.exe shell: Recycle Bin Folder”, and click OK to open Recycle Bin.

Why deleted files are not in Recycle Bin?

Do you find that some files cannot be found in the Recycle Bin, even if you did not empty them? If the deleted files are not found in Recycle Bin, can they still be recovered? When the Recycle Bin can’t solve the problem of where are deleted files on Windows 10, it could be for the causes as follows:

#1. Delete the files using the Shift + Delete shortcut or via the Command Prompt.

• Deleting files through a shortcut key or Command Prompt can skip the Recycle Bin and be completely deleted.

#2. Deleted files were stored on a USB flash drive or SD card.

• When a file stored on the local drive is deleted, Windows only changes the location of the file from its original location to the Recycle Bin. But when you delete a file stored on a USB flash drive or SD card, Windows may not transfer the file to Recycle Bin but delete the file permanently.

#3. Deleted files are much larger than the maximum size of the Recycle Bin.

• If the size of the deleted items is larger than that of Recycle Bin or if the recycle bin is already full of other files, Windows will ask if you want to delete the file permanently. If you confirm it, files will be erased permanently.

#4. Deleted files or folders are hidden and cannot be accessed in Recycle Bin.

• You can locate hidden files: Open Windows File Explorer > Go to the View tab > Click Options > Select the Show hidden files, folders, and drives option.

#5. Recycle Bin has been disabled.

• Windows users disabled Recycle Bin will result in the files being completely deleted directly. How to enable Recycle Bin on PC: Right-click the Recycle Bin icon > Choose Properties > Switch the option from Don’t move files to the Recycle Bin to Custom size, and click OK to confirm it.

How to recover deleted files from Recycle Bin after empty

Windows File Recovery is one of the effective way to recover lost data. Although it can recover lost files from local storage devices such as internal and external hard drives, USB, and SD cards, you need to recover the deleted files using CMD because there's no graphical user interface. 

Besides, this utility is only compatible with Windows 10 build 19041 and later from the Microsoft Store.

★Tips:

 The basic command line:  winfr source-drive: destination-drive: [/mode] [/switches]

Ensure the destination drive (which stores the recovered files) is not the same as the source drive (which stores your needed files before permanent deletion).

Two basic (Regular and Extensive) modes and another two advanced (Segment and Signature) modes support four (NTFS, FAT, exFAT, and ReFS) file systems.

Recover the lost Word document, Excel, PPT, PDF, ZIP, JPG, JPEG, PNG, etc.

Check the file system of your source drive:  Go to “This PC”, and right-click on the source drive, then click the ”Properties”  button.

Step 1. Select the basic "Regular" or "Extensive" mode after checking your file system and data loss scenarios.

Step 2. Resemble your own command lines with the following common switches. 

Step 3. Click "Get" to download Windows File Recovery from Microsoft Store, then install and "Open" it on your computer.

Step 5. How to recover deleted files from Recycle Bin after emptying them? Let’s perform how to restore the permanently deleted PDF files from the F drive to the D drive.

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

Please type “winfr F: D: /extensive /n*.pdf” in the command prompt window.

Step 5. Input “y” to continue, then wait for the recovery process to be finished. Your recovered files will be saved in the target drive.

How to recover permanently deleted files easily and effectively 

In addition, professional data recovery software can help you do it easier. MyRecover is one of the most experienced file recovery tools that can help you to recover completely deleted files in three simple steps, either for your local drive, external hard drive, or SD card.

• It can recover deleted ZIP files, pictures, videos, and other 200+ types of data easily.

• With a pretty high recovery rate, it scans the data on the hard drive with a combination of quick scan and deep scan methods without missing anything and restores files in a short time.

• It also offers to recover data from formatted disks and rescue files easily after a system crash, virus attack, etc.

Follow the guide below to learn how to recover files in Windows 10 when deleted files can’t be located in Recycle Bin.

Step 1. Install and run MyRecover on your computer.

Step 2. Hover the mouse over the drive and click Scan to scan.

Step 3. Navigate to the folders/files that you want to restore in the scanned file list, select them, and tap on Recover xx files.

★Tips:

You can directly search and find your lost files in the search box for easy recovery. The Filter feature can also help you locate certain types of data effortlessly.

Step 4. Select a storage path for restored files and wait for the recovery to complete.

Sum up

Where to find deleted files on Windows 10? When you find that a file has been deleted by mistake, the Recycle Bin should be the first place you check. If unfortunately the files are completely deleted or not saved in Recycle Bin, you can try to use data recovery software like MyRecover to get data back simply.

Actually, the best way to prevent files from being mistakenly deleted, damaged, or lost is to back up your data regularly. For this, you can use AOMEI Backupper to create copies of your Windows files to online storage services, local drives, and network-attached storage devices to keep your data safe.