Don’t Panic
Just because your important file has accidentally been moved to the Recycle Bin on your computer, it does not mean that the file has been lost for good. In fact, there are several easy steps you can take to help recover the file.
Simple First Steps
Opening up the recycling bin on your computer, which can be accessed by clicking on the appropriate icon or by accessing it through the recycling bin folder in Windows Explorer. Once you are in the Recycle Bin, you can click on the file you are searching for to highlight it. From your computer’s File menu, select the Restore option, or right click the file name and choose Restore from the menu. As soon as these steps have been completed, your file should appear right back where it initially was in its original location.
Learn How to Use the Recycle Bin
Although you will likely panic when you find that you have accidentally sent a file to the Recycle Bin, it is comforting to know that you can get the file back in most cases. There may also be times when you intentionally try to delete a file but do not see it when you open up the Recycle Bin. Such files are generally from removable storage devices and those that are deleted from some applications. Whether you have accidentally deleted a file when you meant to keep it or want to get rid of it altogether, the Recycle Bin in a reliable tool.
Get Back Deleted Files
Before you panic after you have unintentionally sent a file to the Recycle Bin, you should know that the data is never completely removed from the hard drive once you have deleted a file. A small amount of information continues to be stored on the hard drive after the incident. For this reason, you will likely be able to recover the file if it has not been overwritten.
If you Can’t Find Your File
However, if you have erased one or more files and you cannot locate them within the Recycle Bin, do not save anything new or delete any more files from your computer. This is because the original space where the deleted file once was has been largely set up to be overwritten. If you save something new in the meantime, there is a much greater chance that your file will be overwritten and potentially lost for good. If the original file has not been overwritten it can generally be recovered.
Download Software Online
If you have internet access, you will be able to download one of many hard disk utilities that are available online. These utilities can help you to recover files that you initially thought had been deleted. These utilities work by looking for data on the hard drive that is missing pointer information. This is crucial because deleted files are missing most of their pointer information, which is relied on to access the file in a system. Once the files without pointer information have been recovered, you will be able to see a complete list. Don’t let deleted files get you down. You can recover your data today.
